Super Cenentarians

A woman who lives in Iowa, Neva Morris, is America's oldest person and the second oldest person in the world behind A Japanese resident named Kama Chinen, who is 100 days older than Neva. Oldie Morris belongs to an elite group. Only 75 super centenarians, those 110 years and older, are alive worldwide today, according to the Gerontology Research Group. That's an astoundingly few number when one considers the population of the world is about 6 billion people. Statistics show that only 1 in 50,000 people who reach age 100 make it to age 110. Given that there are almost 100,000 centenarians (those over 100 years of age) alone in the U.S (the US. has the most over 100's world wide) making it to Neva's age seems a difficult achievement.

My grandmother was 102 when she died and her sister was 104 (she died of a stroke at that age while gardening in the back yard of the home in which she lived..alone!). Neither of those two were ever really sick, as I have never been. But their personalities were completely different, one being sweet and the other difficult. Of course the common thread for those two was the genetic link , one that runs deeply on my paternal side.

I think it foolhardy to point to any one factor in a person who is past 110 as what keeps them going and to try and imitate that oneself. Every variation of life style is shown in the super centenarians, from abusive like smoking and drinking alcohol excessively to the pious who live like cloistered monks. People who live in poorer countries of course are susceptible to disease, famine, wars etc...that make it even harder to become a super centenarian.

But in reading about the oldest residents of earth I found that when one passes 100 he or she gets some nice perks for being the oldest in town, city, state or country. For example:
-In the United States, centenarians traditionally receive a letter from the president upon reaching their 100th birthday, congratulating them for their longevity
-In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms, the Queen sends greetings (formerly as a telegram) on the 100th birthday and on every birthday starting with the 105th.
-Centenarians born in Ireland receive a €2,540 "Centenarians' Bounty" and a letter from the President of Ireland, even if they are residents abroad.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder if I will still be ranting here when I am 110....