Live Long and Prosper
In twelve days, my Mother turns 90. All her children (and their spouses), all her grandchildren (and their spouses), and all her great-grandchildren will be getting together for a birthday celebration in Zions National Park. On my Grandmother Rees’s side (the Munk family of Benson, UT) of the family, it is not unusual to be a nonagenarian and more. Grandmother (Mother’s mother) lived to 101. My Mother has an older brother who will turn 97 this year (his wife is also in her 90s). Her older sister, Aunt Alda, is 93.
Uncle Vincent, a retired surgeon, was featured in a story that ran in SLTrib (12 July 06) about his membership in a group called the Dirty Shirts. They get together every Wednesday rain or shine to play golf in the summer at Rose Park Golf Course or bowl in the winter months at The Ritz. Some Wednesdays, they just meet at Lumpy’s for lunch. Uncle Vincent is the oldest of the group, which averages over 85 years of age.
According to the SLTrib “The golf is pretty informal — a lengthy list of whimsical rules that would make the president of the USGA storm the place ensures scores stay reasonably low — but the lunch afterwrd is serious business. All 16 Dirty Shirts take their turns aphabetically to be “host” of the lunch and pick up the check. The host must provide desert, preferably homemade . . .”
My Grandmother Rees lived alone until she was almost 100. She loved to play bridge but was continually outliving her bridge club members. Two of her sisters were at her funeral. Almost all of her 12 brothers and sisters lived long productive lives.
So what is the secret to living forever? In the case of the Munks (my grandmother’s family) there must be several factors, foremost is genetics. But hard work and not smoking probably help(ed) a lot. My Mother is also very nutrition conscience (my Father was a biochemist and nutritionist). And I’m sure that didn’t hurt.
July 11th, 2010 at 10:52 am
According to Time Magazine (19 Jul 2010, p. 13):
“There is no magic recipe for longevity, but scientists have discovered a few key ingredients. Studying the genes of more than 1,000 centenarians and their matched controls, researchers at Boston University identified 150 genetic variants that predicted with 77% accuracy who would lieve past 100. The analysis also revealed 19 genetic profiles that were shared by most of the extremely long-lived.
Dr. Thomas Perls, lead author of the study, believes these genes may provide clues to what keeps certain people healthy into extreme old age–and may someday help the rest of us live more like them.”
July 16th, 2010 at 7:20 am
Uncle Vincent and his wife Aunt Kay just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. They live in an assisted-living center in SLC.