Tomorrow, Tim and Isaac will get on a plane to Missouri for a boys-only trip to celebrate Isaac's great-great-grandfather Roy's (GGGR) 100th birthday!
You may recall my little anecdote about GGGR from last Thanksgiving. Apparently he's still doing just fine!
I did some reading on how to live to be 100, and many studies have been done on centenarians in Okinawa, and researchers found a few behaviors they tended to have in common:
- A diet that is heavy on grains, fish, and vegetables and light on meat, eggs, and dairy products.
- Low-stress lifestyles, which are proven significantly less stressful than that of the mainland inhabitants of Japan.
- A caring community, where older adults are not isolated and are taken better care of.
- High levels of activity, where locals work until an older age than the average age in other countries, and more emphasis on activities like walking and gardening to keep active.
- Spirituality, where a sense of purpose comes from involvement in spiritual matters and prayer eases the mind of stress and problems.
(source: Wikipedia)
Man, just reading that list makes me hungry for some kale and quinoa. I don't know if GGGR eats much fish, having lived in the Midwest for so long, but he does live in what seems to be a bustling, state-run senior housing community and of course, he has spirituality in spades from all his years as a traveling minister.
I wonder what kind of present one gets a man for his 100th birthday. Tim and I talked it over a few times, and we really couldn't think of anything. For all intents and purposes, he has what he needs, and is doing everything right already.
My halmuni will be 100 in 3 years. I have full confidence she'll make it and then some, if only out of spite.
Do you have anyone in your family who's 100 or older?
