WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2024 - LIVING TO 100

 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2024 - LIVE TO 100?

Yesterday was Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday!!!  Congratulations, Mr. President!!!  

Jimmy Carter has accomplished something no former U.S. president has — he notched a 100th birthday.

Carter, who served one term in the White House, hit the milestone Tuesday at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he has been receiving hospice care for the last 19 months.

The proud Democrat, who has grown increasingly weaker in recent months, has told relatives he wants to hang on until Oct. 15, when early voting begins in Georgia to cast his ballot in the 2024 presidential election.

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Recently, I found this article about getting into the 100 Club:

These Habits Can Help You Live to Be 100 (everydayhealth.com)

EXPERT ADVICE FOR GETTING INTO THE ‘100 CLUB’

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Eat mostly vegan. The article suggests a primarily plant-based diet that limits meals with fish to a maximum of two or three per week. Choose seafood with a high omega-3, omega-6, and vitamin B12 content and try to choose ones with low levels of mercury.

Keep protein intake low. If you are younger than 65, keep protein intake low—between 0.31 and 0.36 grams (g) per pound of body weight. That comes to 40 to 47 g of protein per day for a person weighing 130 pounds (lb) and 60 to 70 g of protein per day for someone weighing 200 to 220 lb. 

After age 65, you should slightly increase your protein intake through fish, other lean proteins, eggs, dairy, beans, nuts, and legumes.

Minimize saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources. Limit meat, cheese, and sugar, and maximize good fats and complex carbs. 

Focus on whole grains and veggies, including tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, legumes, and generous amounts of olive oil.

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Karen adds:  I’m not sure I want to live to 100!!  Visiting with my mother, who lived to 98, she confided to me that she was praying for God to take her.  She had survived many health issues - breast cancer, knee replacement, and other aches and pains.  (My father lived to 97 as well)

Her last few years were primarily spent in an assisted living facility, watching television and taking the short walk down the hall to the dining room. On lovely days, she would go outside with her walker (she never had or needed a wheelchair) and stroll the grounds.  

She played bingo and participated in the home's activities. My sister lived nearby and would host our parents for significant holidays and events. (And we would go to the local dairy store for ice cream!!!)

(Aside from that, I was visiting, and she played bingo.  She had memorized two bingo cards (set aside for Helen).  During the hour that they had played, she hadn’t won.  In the last game, she “cheated” by putting an extra chip on one of her bingo cars.  The prize for winning was a miniature candy bar - and my mother loved chocolate!!!)

To my knowledge, she avoided alcohol throughout her life. There might have been a toast at a wedding where she had a small sip of wine.  Our particular denomination used grape juice instead of wine at communion.  

She kept active—walking and playing bridge—for physical, social, and mental activities. In Michigan, they went to a shopping mall before it opened and walked with others—both socially and physically—as she would talk to everybody on her lap around the mall.  

She loved everybody - and everybody loved Helen White.

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I talk about love winning.  My parents were so loving.  Yes, I was caring, but it frequently came with conditions.  “I’ll love you as long as you are nice to me.”  

If I can stay active, do meaningful activities, and “preach” that LOVE WINS, I will be willing to live longer. But already, at age 77, I’m thinking about my mother’s prayer (that I have heard from many elderly in the nursing home): “Lord, take me home.”

LOVE DOES WIN.  Unconditional love, agape love, love for all people

LOVE DOES TRANSFORM.  I picture an aura around my mother and others where their love abounds.

Karen Anne White, October 2, 2024