Why I Think She Lived to 95

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She was short, overweight, ate anything she wanted, and didn't exercise.  I wouldn't say she had a positive personality, and I've often wondered how she lived to be 95 when she didn't do any of the things we are told to do to be healthy and have a long life like nutrition, exercise, and think positive

I met her when she was 75. I was 41. She became one of my group tour leaders, getting people to go on cruises and tours that I planned. I gave her free trips, we took fabulous trips together. From Aruba to Alaska, we spent many fun times on anything from a one-day motorcoach tour to several week-long cruises with 'her' gang of Seniors who loved traveling.

She was 91 on our last group tour together, it was to Branson, MO. Wayne Newton was on stage and called out her name to wish her a Happy Birthday. I thought she'd be thrilled. She wasn't. She didn't want the attention or have it announced to a theater group that she was 91. She grumbled all the way back to the hotel.

Although she didn't exercise, she was active in planning things for her Mobile Home Park group. She was in charge of the monthly luncheons; she was on the Board of Directors; she arranged the decorations for the monthly dinners, she arranged luncheons outside the complex for her group of travelers, which she planned so I could present my next tour or cruise.

I took her to get her first driver's license when she was 81. Her husband's eyes were keeping him from driving, and she was determined not to be homebound, she had things to so.

And that is why I think she lived to be 95. She had things to do. She had a purpose. In her mind, who would take care of the things she took care of, also in her mind, there was no one else who could do it as well as she.

It was after she moved into a retirement, was no longer in charge of organizing things that I saw her health begin to fail.

I still miss her.

She went into a retirement home when she was 93. She had a nice apartment, didn't need assisted-living, and was able to take care of herself and her cat. But that was all she had to do. No one needed her to run things. She had no meetings to go to or activities to plan. One day was like the next, and for her it was boring.

Did assisted-living and having anything to do cause her decline? Probably not, age did that. I think she was able to reach that age without any health problems along the way for two reasons.

#1 - She didn't have time for health problems
#2 - She had things to do, places to go and a reason for being, a purpose.

We all need a purpose, a reason for being, something to look forward to. Do you know yours?  Are there more than one?

M. Bradley McCauley

©2017

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