100 YEARS

 

Is not everyone who has lived for over a 100 years, so I am in a position to tell you what it is like.

For one’s body you have to remember that all organs and joints have been going for a long time and wear out. So one has to decide what needs attention medically or just acceptance that bodies do not last for ever. So I like to think that most aches and pains are just the result of use over the years.

I’m often asked (sometimes even by people with medical knowledge) what are my secrets. For the sake of brevity I just reply that much laughter with one’s partner in life is the number one reason for a happy and long existence. Next comes garlic, for a reason without foundation, but I have a feeling about it and use it as often as I can when it is my week to cook. Then comes red wine. I wrote on this subject for newspapers,  journals and in books for many years.  Being a member of the prestigious Circle of Wine Writers, I must have consumed at least a bottle of red wine each day as part of my job (doctors please note).

 And lastly I recommend  a good sex life. I never add more to this last item as somehow it creates much laughter and thought. 

There is another strange thing about being a centenarian. It is that people, when they know my age, want to shake my hand. Just why, I have no idea - though someone suggested that it was for good luck. The King and Queen may have thought the same as they sent me a birthday card. 

As I am very active and do not look my age, I have pleasure in astounding people, doctors especially, as they believe alcohol to be harmful, when, in my view it is a lubricant of life. Of course tolerance to alcohol varies from one person to another. So one has to know one’s limits and be careful not to overstep them. 

Then there is longevity tolerance, lack of expectation if you like. All your bits and pieces including the brain have been active for a very long time and, because of it, must be rather worn out. Memory loss, I think, is just good brain cells, trying to get out past dead brain cells. 

But to one’s aid comes the wonderful National Health Service. I thank this great organisation for its countless pills and its doctors, nurses and staff for everything they have done for me over the years.

That’s life - and the length of it. 

PS: I’m 101 in the meantime and still going strong.