Amazing Tales of Aging

Life can be a continuous process of growth, and the potential for learning new things, engaging in new activities and cultivating new interests exists at all ages. The MacArthur foundation studied people in late life to find characteristics they share in common. The study found that one indicator of a person who will live into very late life is continued engagement with life. In other words, it’s better to be 70 years young than 40 years old. Here’s a look at some very inspirational people who remained engaged in life well into late life and achieved major accomplishments in their senior years.

When Colonel Harlan Sanders was 64, a highway was constructed that bypassed his small service station where he served his original recipe fried chicken to hungry travelers. Losing business, he franchised his restaurant and traveled around US selling franchises, using his $105 Social Security check to start the business. By the time he was 70, he had 400 franchises; by 74, he had more than 600.

Mary Fasano left school at fourteen to work in cotton factory. She married, raised a family, and worked two jobs to put her five children through college. When she was 71, she decided to retire. The first thing she did with her newfound free time was to earn her high school equivalency diploma. She enrolled in some college courses at Harvard. After 16 years she graduated at age 89, Harvard’s oldest graduate ever.

Jeanne Calment, who became the world’s longest living person when she died at 122, said on her 120th birthday, “Aging actually suits me rather well. I had to wait 110 years to become famous and I intend to enjoy it as long as possible.” Calment produced rap songs that were recorded after her 100th birthday.

Liz Carpenter, former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, started raising her brother’s three adolescent children when she 72 years old. She viewed aging as “not just a physical process but also a psychological attitude,” and one of her life strategies was, “never wait to be invited to a party; throw your own!” She also said, “Being allowed to break your own rules is an advantage of aging.”

The above are just a few examples of the countless seniors whose major achievements came later in life. Here are a few more:

• George Bernard Shaw wrote the play “Farfetched Fables” at age 93.
• Verdi wrote Ave Maria at age 85, composed the opera Othello when he was 74, and wrote Falstaff at age 80.
• Michelangelo was working on the Rondanini Pietà six days before died at age 89; at age 88 he drafted the architectural plans for the church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli.
• Coco Chanel served as the head of her own fashion design empire until age 85.
• Winston Churchill became prime minister of England at age 65 and wrote A History of the English Speaking Peoples at 82.
• Ben Franklin effected the compromise that led to the adoption of the constitution of the United States when he was 81.
• William Gladstone was first elected prime minister of England at age 60. Re-elected four times, he was still in office at age 82.
• Golda Meir was 71 when she became prime minister of Israel.
• Dr. Morris Lewi, was still the dean of the Long Island School of Podiatry at age 97.
• Michelangelo served as architect for St Peter’s Basilica from age 72 until his death at 88.
• Antonio Stradivari made two of his Stradivarius violins when he was in his 90s.
• Frank Lloyd Wright designed New York City’s Guggenheim Museum at age 92.
• Helen Keller wrote a book, Teacher, at age 75.
• Dame Agatha Christie oversaw the filming of her novel, Murder on the Orient Express, at age 84.
• Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa at age 75.
• Marion Hart learned to fly at age 54 and made seven nonstop solo flights across Atlantic, the last at age 83.
• Concert pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski played a concert in Carnegie hall with three encores at age 98.
• Heart surgeon Micheal E. DeBakey was still operating at age 85.
• Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as “Grandma Moses,” hosted her first art show at age 80. On her 100th birthday, New York governor Nelson Rockefeller She painted until her death at 101.

From time to time, we can all use a gentle reminder that there are good things we can look forward to in later life. As caregivers, it is easy to forget this when faced with difficult issues. But the reality is that the majority of people age and die without major problems. These examples prove it!

Posted in Geriatric Care Solutions, Inspirational Memoirs