December 8, 2023
"Every two weeks or so, Robert S. Gregg bakes up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and drives them to his son working at a farm near Fredericktown, Ohio."
"He has no plans to stop the tradition any time soon. He celebrated his 100th birthday in March, and had his driver’s license renewed shortly after. His son stops by every day to make sure he is up, and his daughter regularly takes him to medical appointments. Gregg’s daughter Susan Cunningham said her father has always been good at knowing his own limits, so she is not concerned about him living alone.
'In some ways it helps him live longer because he has to cook for himself and do things for himself,' she said."
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27 comments:
I hope they included the cookie recipe.
Oh, my dear old man! AI needs to tell him about Zoom and how to get Amazon to deliver cookies.
My grandmother lived alone until the age of 95. She cooked her eggs and brewed her coffee on a wood burning "range," and she baked bread and cakes in the wood burning oven. She did grab my dad and make him restock the woodshed whenever we stopped by, though. She was very particular about how the woodshed was stocked.
Lucky man. One of my uncles was quite active until 90. Driving his car, going for long AM walks etc. After that, his mind went and next stop was assisted living.
My wife and I live in a beautiful home in Tucson but we may not have long to enjoy it as I fell and broke my back about Labor Day. She visited me in the rehab hospital and we both contracted Covid (again) which has knocked us for a loop. It was the day of discharge, of all things. Our kids are in California and assisted living is probably coming. One positive is that our house has doubled in value since we bought it. My wife (who will be 79 next month) will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from her house. Life goes on.
A 100 year old man should not be driving on public roads.
My father has a good shot at 100 and he lives with my step mother.
I'm not sure he would have made it so long if he were living alone, even though he is physically capable of it...
These stories of elderly persons directing their own lives without support help are great, right up until the kitchen catches on fire, or they ram the car into a building, or they lose 40 pounds because they can't feed themselves and nobody noticed. I offer as an example our current president, may God bless his soul, and take it soon.
Michael K. - get well!
And thanks for all your great comments over the years.
Kate said...
“A 100 year old man should not be driving on public roads.“
Okay. That’s why I’m planning for my 100 year old lady to be driving me around town when I’m 97.
'My wife and I live in a beautiful home in Tucson but we may not have long to enjoy it as I fell and broke my back about Labor Day.'
I am sorry to hear this and hope you are doing better.
Think about maybe having someone come in to your current home once in a while to help.
It may not be possible full-time but could serve as a transition strategy and keep you in your house a bit longer...
'Okay. That’s why I’m planning for my 100 year old lady to be driving me around town when I’m 97.'
Go granny, go!
The loss of one's driver's license is a fateful event, and some physicians believe that they have ethical duties to notify authorities of their patient's waning capacities.
The doctors can make mistakes.
A 75 year old client of mine had to spend $7000 on specialist counsel and an expert witness for an administrative proceeding in California to get his license back. Less prosperous elderly people will either capitulate or drive illegally.
I hate the smell of every assisted living facility I've ever visited.
Cheaper, in many cases, to just do a long-term contract with a decent budget hotel. Someone will tidy the room on a regular basis and there's probably free "breakfast", a mini-fridge, a microwave and cable TV. Maybe exercise equipment and a pool. Maids and staff as likely to say "Hi" as caretakers in high-dollar assisted living.
That sucks, Doc. I hope you feel better soon. Enjoy those grandkids while you can.
Dr K -- so sorry to hear about your back! I hope it heals enough that you have good mobility without pain, and can stay in your lovely home for a while longer.
Michael K said...My wife (who will be 79 next month) will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from her house. Life goes on.
I'm sorry to hear about your back. I hope you recover quickly and well.
Regarding the quoted material here, I hope you've given a thought to your children. My MIL passed away earlier this year after a long slow slide into dementia. She too was determined to be carried out of her house in a box, and she almost pulled it off. But because she valued her independence above all else, she did nothing to prepare for the decline and as a result, became a terrible burden to her daughters, who had to arrange her care and manage all her affairs from a distance.
The stress she put on my wife and her sister makes me really angry and it damaged the relationship of the sisters for years because there was no direction. Every decision was fraught, every emergency meant they put their lives on hold. It interfered with their jobs and their relationships with their own families and each other.
The only saving grace is that a lifetime of frugal living left her with a large nest egg that easily paid for all the care she needed.
This is exactly the issue that's cropped up for me and my sister. My mom just turned 80 this fall and is now alone following my father's death in August. She's in great health, but, a week before Thanksgiving, she was on a ladder in the basement, lost her balance and fell, dislocating her shoulder. I'm thankful that it wasn't a leg, which would have left her on the basement floor with no way to communicate that she was injured.
Now, she's going into the winter having a bum arm with very little range of motion, while she figures out whether she can get away with lesser treatment than a full shoulder replacement. And she's determined to put up the Christmas trees in the house despite this. This is the kind of stuff that can send a person into a tailspin, health-wise. Keeping my fingers crossed.
"Look inside the homes of 11 seniors" (WaPo)."
Whatever happened to "Get off my lawn!"?
I took my Mom in this past April, at 85. She turned 86 in July. She was very active her whole life, and since she was barricaded in her house for over a year all by herself, (covid) she has been getting more and more feeble every day. She wants to do things for herself, but can't do a lot anymore. Getting cortizone shots in her knee, and hands every three months keep her more inactive. I have her doing puzzles, suduko, and reading again (bought her a paperwhite). It's hard watching them go through this. I wouldn't change a thing though.
At my recent annual physical, my doctor reviewed all the numbers and said I was in excellent health (everything w/in normal range, etc etc). So many friends and former co-workers at the same age are dealing with knee replacements (all that "jogging" in the 80's had a consequence), severe arthritis, diabetes, heart disease.
Part of it is genetics (At least 75% of great aunts and uncles lived well into their 90's, some made it to 100).
He urged me to read a book "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity". It's essentially a how-to book on living longer, avoiding chronic diseases and when you time comes (untreatable cancer, whatever), you don't linger in years of nursing homes.
It's on my Amazon list, but haven't ordered it yet.
“ Okay. That’s why I’m planning for my 100 year old lady to be driving me around town when I’m 97.”
I think the cars by then will be so high-tech that very little will be involved other than sitting there and telling it where you want it to go so we’ll be fine. We’re getting old at just the right time.
Michael K, you don't seen like an assisted living type guy. If there's hope for the back, fight back. Older dudes like us have to have something to do, anyway.
I had rotator cuff surgery two weeks ago. Hated the sling,
No sudden moves. Just move. One more half mm at a time.
I know little about backs, in general and nothing at all about yours but don't rule out a little kicking and screaming.
Think about maybe having someone come in to your current home once in a while to help.
We've had home care since early October. At first it was 24 hour but in another week it will be down to 3 days a week for four hours each. Not cheap but worth it. My mother lived alone until she was 100. Finally moved in with my sister at 100. My record will not match hers. My wife's mother also lived to 100. I actually had a ten level fusion 30 years ago after another fall. This one broke part of the old fusion. The recovery that time was easier but I was 30 years younger.
My mother was 95 when she asked her orthopedic surgeon to replace her hips and knees. He said no competent surgeon would undertake that effort for someone who is 95. If she'd come in sooner, say 85 then replacements might have been possible. His best advice to mom was to "keep moving - always keep moving". It was good advice. Mom kept moving and made it to 102 before moving on. You don't strike me as being 95. I dare you to beat her!
My Dad will be 89 next Friday, in a week, and he still lives in his own house with my Mom. He has dementia, very bad short term memory, but stills remembers the past beyond a certain point and people. Still chews tobacco. Will still drive to town occasionally. Does more stupid things than he use to, like try and build a fire when it isn't cold outside or watch to see if the smoke is going up the chimney rather than out of it.
Mr. Gregg deserves a nickname. My vote is for "Chip".
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