Imagine living for 103 years. Yesterday I saw a hospice patient who is 103 years old. She was born in the U.S. but she and her older sister were taken to Poland to live with her grandparents while her parents established themselves. During that time WWI broke out in 1914, she was just a year old. Her grandparents and sister died in the war and she was then taken in and raised by her aunt. Her parents came for her when she was 13 years old and took her back to the U.S. where she met her younger sister and brother. Incredible.

When I asked her what she felt her longevity was due to she told me she always ate fresh food, never frozen or processed.  I imagine genetics has something to do with it as well. We talked about healthy eating and to this day she still eats the same way, always fresh.

She told me “Many years ago, when I was ninety…” (How many people can begin a sentence like that?) “…Sloane Kettering wanted to interview me because I had lived so long!” She waves her hand in the air with a dismissive attitude.

When I asked her what she had enjoyed the most about her life her eyes twinkled and she said, “My husband and my children.”

It is lovely to be able to share these moments, I see a pattern. At the end of life no one says, “I wish I had worked more!” or “I wished I owned a Mercedes!” Of course we all know this, it is not something new, but it is a gentle reminder when we get caught up in the materialism of life that LOVE and an APPLE are what really make life worth living.