Mr. Spock wished everyone could “live long and prosper.”
Well, plenty of people have figured out how to prosper to some degree, but it’s that live long part that trips most of us up.
Many people are in awe when they meet a 100-year-old person, except, of course, unless you’re Methuselah; then the mere centenarian is a youngster.
Methuselah was the oldest person in the Bible, living 969 years. He was also the grandfather of Noah. Methuselah died just seven days before the Great Flood.What was the secret of his near-immortality? Maybe it was having old parents, as Enoch was 65 when he fathered Methuselah. Then again, Enoch lived another 300 years, so maybe he wasn’t that old after all.
As unlikely as it is for anyone to live longer than Methuselah, that doesn’t stop us from hoping. But there doesn’t seem to be any Fountain of Youth, or magic elixir.
Or is there?
When she was turning 107 Baltimore’s Downing Jett Kay said drinking lots of coffee helped her to live a long life.
Coffee doesn’t do it for 104-year-old Elizabeth Sullivan. She drinks three cans of Dr. Pepper every day.
“I started drinking them about 40 years ago,” said Sullivan, who lives in Texas. “Three a day. Every doctor that sees me says they'll kill you, but they die and I don't, so there must be a mistake somewhere.”
Liquid is also important to Bernando LaPallo, 111. He massages his feet in olive oil, he revealed.
No, no, said Japan’s Misao Okawa, who turned 117 in March. The secret is a good night’s sleep – and eating plenty of sushi.
And keeping busy, Alfred Date, 109, might add. He credits knitting for his longevity. He recently knitted sweaters for injured penguins.
Date is not the answer for Jessie Gallan, 109. Her secret is to avoid men and eat lots of porridge.
Porridge schmorridge, says Emma Morano-Martinuzzi, 115. Her secret is eating raw eggs.
Well, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on the secret of longevity, but we can all agree on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and avoiding things like alcohol, smoking or too much exposure to sunlight, right?
Not so fast.
When he turned 115, Jiroemon Kimura said his secret was sunbathing!
Well, maybe having just one vice can be overcome. But definitely avoid two bad habits.
Unless you’re Richard Overton, who turned 109 on May 11. The world’s oldest living World War II vet says he adds whiskey to his morning coffee – and he smokes a dozen Tampa Sweet cigars a day!
“I’ve been smoking cigars since I was 18 years old,” Overton said. “I have over $100 worth of cigars now.”
Yikes! Certainly three bad habits will do you in sooner rather than later?
Not so, World War I veteran Henry Allingham said when he was 113. His secret was “cigarettes, whiskey and wild, wild women.”
Advice from other centenarians include:
§ Jeralean Talley, 115: Hog’s head cheese. Hog’s head includes pig’s ears and feet in a jelly stock.
§ Gertrude Weaver, 116: Kindness.
§ Cordelia Rimmington, 107: Chill out, don’t worry about anything.
§ Gladys Hooper, 112: Don’t do stupid things.
Now, avoiding doing something stupid is always a good idea.
But, maybe, the best advice is from Susannah Mushatt Jones, 115, who said simply, “Believe in the Lord.”
Hey, it worked for Methuselah.