Comments on: Gerda Lerner is 90 years old

By: quixote

quixote — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:58:55 +0000

(I shall have to remember that roasting brussel sprouts is ridiculous. I didn’t know that before. )

But to get get back to the topic… I knew one very old person (high 90s) who was sharp, active, not ill in any way, who one day said she was tired. It was time to go. And she went. So I’m not sure it’s always true that disease is necessary to accept death.

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 02 May 2010 03:51:59 +0000

No way! If you cut them in half, then slice through (but not all the way through) with a knife and fan them out, they get crispy and almost caramelized! They are de-lish!

I’m okay with the red pepper flakes, but I like them crispy, and sauteeing them lead to sogginess.

By: Comrade PhysioProf

Comrade PhysioProf — Sun, 02 May 2010 03:36:59 +0000

Brussel sprouts should be cooked by quartering them, and sauteeing them in a hot pan in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Roasting them is ludicrous.

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:24:49 +0000

I am in Chicago now, visiting my 89 year old grandmother. It is so strange for me to see the smartest, strongest woman I know be so old. Her body is crap, but she still has one of the sharpest minds. It makes her so angry that she can’t see well enough to read, or stand for longer than a couple of seconds, and it makes me wonder which is worse- your body or your mind going down the tubes first. Her 87 year old brother has Alzheimer’s, but can see and is otherwise healthy. He is still one of the happiest people I have ever met.

Historiann– roasted brussel sprouts are the best- olive oil, salt, pepper in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Nothing is better.

By: truffula

truffula — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:38:15 +0000

A friend turned 102 a few weeks ago. She reports that it’s been all down hill since she hit 100. She’s outlived her contemporaries ( including my grandmother), been bilked of her savings by a ne’re do well nephew, been reuinited will better kin just in the nick of time (she still has her teacher’s pension), it’s all quite remarkable.

I used to hang out with my grandmother, Miss Murray now of 102 years, and their cohort on breaks from school and took a leave from work to live there when more time was required. There was slow, ritual pattern to conversation when all the old gals (husbands dead, them that had ‘em) got together. Review of the recent and forecast weather, review of the meds, old and new, review of the town gossip, review of the dwindling choir ranks and collection at church. After a while I realized that this was all a network check. Are we all okay? They discovered a doctor’s error with a prescription that way once, probably saved a life, at least for a while.

My mother started Italian lessons at the tender age of 69. I love that.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 01 May 2010 18:44:56 +0000

What worries me is our desire to prevent certain things happening by our actions. I know people who did plenty of crossword puzzles, but still got Alzheimers. Who ate healthfuly and exercised, but still got cancer.

My observation from watching people age is that people are themselves only more so as they get older. So my goal now is to help myself become someone I don’t mind being more so than when I get older!

Continuing to think – learn – read – walk or run seems like a good idea. So is hanging out with younger people, and actually just hanging out with people…

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 01 May 2010 17:43:05 +0000

HA-ha-hah! Squadrato, I *love* that expression (“mutton dressed as lamb.”) I’d love to use it more often, but unfortunately, all of my friends are ageless . . . .I’m not saying that at all–just that perhaps past a certain age which of course you’re quite far from still, a bone tiara might say something else than it says on a younger woman.

ntbw: wow, those are some excellent running chops! It’s cool to rediscover things you hated at younger ages and find that you like them now. (Brussels sprouts, for example, were a total revelation to me once I got to my later 20s.) Good luck with that 10-mile run!

By: ntbw

ntbw — Sat, 01 May 2010 17:18:58 +0000

What an interesting post and comments. My Dad turns 70 this summer, and I turn 40 in a few weeks. It’s great to see him so intellectually and physically active–70 seems not bad at all looking at him. And people keep asking me if I mind turning 40, which seems a very strange question. I always want to say, “well, wouldn’t NOT turning 40 be much worse, since I’d be dead?” We don’t really have the option of moving time in the other direction, and, frankly, I would not want to have to live the ages of 21-27 (that would be grad school!) again!

Historiann, I think running is a big part of why I don’t mind turning 40. I was a cross country runner through high school, and hated it the whole time, because I was always getting hurt. In my 30s, though, I rediscovered running, learned to train properly, and LOVE it. Though I undoubtedly looked better when I was a teenager, I’m in better physical health now. I’m training for a half marathon, having run several 10K races, and I plan to celebrate the milestone birthday itself with a 10 mile run.

By: squadratomagico

squadratomagico — Sat, 01 May 2010 17:03:55 +0000

Are you saying I’m a mutton dressed up like a lamb, Historiann?

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:55:55 +0000

“spiked gauntlets and bone tiaras” That sounds cool–but at some point, it could become Miss Havishamesque, no? (I’m sure it depends on the other wardrobe items and accessories, of course.)

I know what you mean about 40, Notorious. I noticed a few years ago that both my husband and I stopped thinking about getting out for a run as just a fun or fitness activity, and more as a health maintenance necessity if we plan on continuing to live happily and healthy. For example, he’s started to say things like, “I’d like to get out for a run if that’s OK, so I don’t have a heart attack.” And I’ve started to think to myself, “hey–some people blew out their knees in their 20s, but I’m still running at 41. Cool!”