The other day I was giving a tour of our assisted living to a lady who is 100 years old. She brought her children along, who are visiting from out of town. She’s not quite ready to give up living on her own in her senior apartment but wanted to show her kids where she planned to move when the time came if she needed more help.
She didn’t have a walker, a wheelchair, or even a cane. She kept a decent pace as we walked around the building, only pausing one time to lean against the wall for a minute and catch her breath. I didn’t ask if she drove herself to the tour because I was a little afraid of the answer. The only thing that gave away her age was her telling me.
It amazed me as we walked around together, to think of all she’s seen during her lifetime. After she left, I looked up what happened in 1922, the year she was born, and found some memorable moments: President Warren G. Harding introduced the first radio in the White House and made his first speech on the radio a few months later. The first issue of Reader’s Digest was published. Construction began on Yankee Stadium. The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated. Massachusetts opened all public offices to women. The Hollywood Bowl opened. The California grizzly bear was hunted to extinction. Betty White and Judy Garland were born. And, the Eskimo Pie ice cream bar was patented.
I started thinking of all the people I know who have made it to their late 90s and beyond. I could think of five people I know who are at least 100 years old right now and still getting around. Sure, I run with an older crowd in my line of work, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 90,000 people who achieved centenarian status by the year 2020. Forty years earlier, only 32,000 people made it that far.
A century ago, I’d bet most people thought if they were lucky enough to reach the ripe old age of 65 and retire from work, they might have a few more years ahead of them to golf, spend time with the grandkids, and putter around the house. Now it’s entirely possible you might have to fill another 35 years with things to do. It puts those childhood summers when you complained about being bored into perspective.
Meeting folks who have reached that milestone makes you think about what’s important to do now to have a good quality of life later. Maybe toss a few extra helpings of vegetables into your meals or get serious about that calcium supplement. Park in the farthest parking space you can find and walk a little more. Spend more time hanging out with friends and less time scrolling through social media. Learn something new that interests you.
Or keep doing what you love, for as long as you can do it. I think about Russell, an elderly man who served as an usher at my small-town church in Minnesota. Each Sunday you couldn’t help but notice his gnarled, beefy hands as he handed you a bulletin. He had been a dairy farmer all his life, getting up before the crack of dawn each day to milk his cows. After many years, he sold his farm to his kids, looking forward to the idea of not getting up early every morning and being tied to the farm. But after a few years of retirement, he missed his girls, so he bought a few cows and got back to doing what he truly loved.
If you knew you were going to live to be 100, would you live your life differently? It’s something to think about.