By Loretta Humble/Living Well
If you like the idea of living a full happy life all your days, you have just got to watch this new HBO special. It is called “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.” It opens with Tony Bennett, still working at 90, singing, “The Best is Yet to Come.” Host Carl Reiner, 95, also going strong, interviews and chats with a host of folks who are living happy productive lives at 90 and well beyond, folks like, Mel Brooks, (90), Norman Lear (94), Kirk Douglas (99), Stan Lee (90), Dick Van Dyke (91) and Betty White (95). Patricia Morison, the lead in the 1948 Broadway hit, “Kiss Me Kate,” is still singing at 102.
Patricia Morison, the lead in the 1948 Broadway hit, “Kiss Me Kate,” is still singing at 102.
But some of the most interesting interviews are with lesser knowns, including designer Iris Apfel (94), sprinter Ida Keeling (100), yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch (97) and World War II Paratrooper Jim Martin (95).
Reiner wants to challenge our ideas about what it means to live a vibrant life in the very late years of life, so he shows us an array of people who are doing just that.
How are they doing it so well? “Is it luck? Genes? Modern medicine?” he wonders, “Or are we doing something right?”
According to Dan Buttner, noted expert on longevity and happiness, the human body has the capacity for 90 good years of life, while US life expectancy is about 78, slightly more for women. He says this means a whole lot of us are are leaving 12 good years on the table. He says our genes account for about 45% of how happy our lives will be, outside circumstances about 15%. He says even if we have been dealt a crappy hand by genes and circumstance we still have about 40% with which to stack our hands in favor of a better life at any age.
A great example is Id Keeling, who started running at 67 to get out of the depression she sank into after losing her two sons. Her daughter convinced her to run in a “Mini run” which turned out to be a 5k run. She says when she finished it, it was like a great burden lifted. Recently she got national attention when, at 100, she ran at Penn Relay, the largest track meet in the country. 100 meters at 100 years!“I I will never consider myself old,” she says.”You got to be the boss of your body. If you don’t take care nobody else will.”
Patricia Morison, sang a little, and then said, “Life is the main gift we have. As long as you’re here, eat it up, hold it And as long as you meet wonderful people in your life hold on to them for they are gifts.”
Jim Martin, WWII Paratrooper, told buddies when he got out of the service he would buy 50 acres, get a job so he could raise a family, and maybe buy a hamburger. He did just that. He and his wife built every bit for their home, from pouring concrete on up. He still lives there, and at 95 still splits all the firewood which is their only fuel. Says this time is the best part of his life. He goes to bed when he wants, get up when he wants. “I’m completely free. I don’t owe anybody a dime. Anybody can do it if they want. There’s nothing like it.”
Dan Buttner says to thrive, we need lots of interaction with other people. He suggests 6 to 8 hours a day. He says most of the things good for us we really like to do.
According to Buttner optimal senior years would include
1.Being physically fit
2 Staying sharp.
3 Living out your passions
4. Making a contribution
5. Expecting to keep achieving.
However some manage to have a full life without a fit body. There is a touching interview with Kirk Douglas, who at 92, after suffering a stroke that strongly affected his speech, did a widely acclaimed one man show , “Before I Forget” , filling all but one of Buttner’s list.
I have set here most of the day, watching reruns of this show, trying to tell you enough to get you to want to watch it. I don’t feel like I did a very good job of it. It is a great program. I could only touch on a small bit of it. . These people are beautiful. They sure have inspired me. Many of them may have more physical, talent, and maybe mental advantages than most of us, but I do think what I saw and admired most was something I’ll call gumption. I don’t think you have to be rich or be the most talented person in the world to have gumption. I am pretty sure I have more of that than I’ve been using. I’m going to see if I can raise my gumption level a notch or two.
HBO will show it a lot of times. And will probably keep it available. If you don’t have HBO, find somebody to let you watch it. Heck, call me. You can come to my house. I won’t mind watching it again.