The Secret to Longevity

A couple weeks ago my mother turned 99 years old. People always comment when I tell them how old she is that I must be of good stock. Yes, longevity does run in the family. If anyone ever interviews my mother and asks her what is her secret to living so long, well, I decided to do just that, interview my mother.

She was born the coldest winter in West Tennessee history, 1917, getting down to -32 degrees, yes, that’s minus 32 degrees. Weather historians tell us that the ground starting freezing early in December and then snowing, eventually getting over 25 inches. The Mississippi River froze solid, people walked from Tennessee to Arkansas, some even rode in wagons pulled by horses across the river.

She was born during World War 1, was a young girl and teen during the Great Depression, worked as a Rosie the Riveter at an airplane factory during World War II, produced four fine children, was married over 50 years to the same man, lived in the same house and attended the same church for the past 70 years. At age 98, she became a great-grandmother for the first time.

She eats candy or cookies or ice cream every day, loves fried chicken, fried ham slices, fried pork chops and french fries, drinks Pepsi Cola and coffee and doesn’t like to drink water or milk, can feed a family of six with one can of tuna fish, etc. etc. etc.

So what is the secret to her longevity? When asked, she said she didn’t know. So, I guess it really is a secret. When I asked her who she voted for, she said that was a secret, too.