Great Ladies

My beautiful Tante Aase (left) and her sister Marit

My Aunt Aase's sister Marit passed away recently.

Marit had just celebrated her 100th birthday in November.  That's quite an achievement.  She still looked beautiful.

That's an even better achievement.

I just had to take a moment and share about these lovely ladies.  The sisters have been very close all their lives.  I had only met Marit a few times, but I know my Tante Aase well.  She is a very beautiful lady inside and out. I know she will miss her sister a lot.

Hearing the news about Marit made me start thinking.

I'm  not sure I want to live to be 100!

Okay, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you could still read, do math, drive a car, and enjoyed good health. Not that you have too much choice in the matter, one way or other, most of the time.  What is the slogan?  Eat right, Exercise regularly, Die Anyway?

Still, things have changed dramatically since I was a child.  You would rarely hear of anyone making it to 90 back in the day.  But that's no longer the case.  I have a good friend who is an RN (Registered Nurse) and he says that more and more people over 90 are dropping by his clinic after driving there themselves and walking in without any help.

That's pretty amazing, isn't it?  It didn't used to be that way!  I think it speaks to the good health care we have, and the good nutrition we get  Those are terrific blessings.

My Aunt Aase is well over 90.  She's still in good shape too.  She is active, she drives, she lives on her own. That's the way to go at 90!

Must be those Scandinavian genes. I'll bet they help a little.

My dear friend Ruth recently turned 95.  She also has Scandinavian heritage.  (That she is 95 still seems amazing to me!  So amazing, in fact, that my initial post said she was only 90.)

Lovely Ruth

Ruth's daughter and I were roommates for many years.  Ruth would come for a visit, and we'd all pile into her VW mini-van and go see what trouble we could get ourselves into.  Ruth is one of the most interesting ladies I've ever met.  And she is a fabulous cook!  We had a lot of fun together through the years and took some truly great trips in that van.  I remember those times fondly.

I used to wonder how the biblical Prophet Enoch, at 60 years old, could announce, "I am but a lad."

I think I'm beginning to understand.

Let's hear it for the great ladies in our lives!