marie, 79

she met matt when she was 18 and he was 21. she and some girlfriends were going to a dance in santa cruz. little did she know that her friend, beatrice, had gone out with matt before. he came over to say hello to beatrice, but he asked marie to dance. they danced and she knew immediately that she liked him. after all, he was a good person and he had a good job. matt was modest and quite mechanical. imagine her surprise when he took her on an airplane ride for their second date. they circled over her mother’s house and did flips and dips. she thought, “wow, now this is living!” they married two years later and she says divorce has never been an option. they just love each other.

on staying young: “we have a very tight knit family and i have an amazing support system.”

frank, 82

he’s only voted for a democrat four times in his life. he says they always promise a chicken in every pot and then they give you nothing. this time he voted for obama. it wasn’t a black thing, he said he could care less that obama was african american. he just thought he was better and that was that.

growing up in abilene, texas, he learned spanish because all of his friends were mexican. his dad was 20 years older than his mom. He met her when she was working in the fields. As the story goes, he saved her from working for a “white man” and his property. he got all his brains and desire for education from his mom.

on staying young: “eat well and exercise”

mary, 90

she always hated the winters in the northeast. so much so that she told her mother that someday, when she “got big” she was going to take her mother to california. her brother in law was stationed at the presidio during the war and had visited los gatos. he told her that from the hills all you would see were pink and white flowers. those were the days when san jose was all orchards.

even though her mom was very ill, mary didn’t care. she was going to california. she made arrangements via ambulance and train to get her mother to california. she was 29 at the time and single. she was immersed in fashion design. at least until she met mike. he was ten years+ her senior. he enjoyed her mom and would bring all kinds of fruit over to her house for her mom – mostly as an excuse to see mary. they married when she was 30 and had 40 years together.

on staying young: “it’s all about your attitude and what you eat!”

start talking

have you ever wondered why some people are the sweetest old people in the world, and others are crotchity and mean?  have you ever gone into an old person’s house and looked at their pictures and wondered what they were like when they were young?  or gone to a convelescent hospital and thought about what the lives of all the old people lined up in wheelchairs were like 50 years ago?  and don’t forget the people who smoked and drank their youth away and are still with us and the people who did everything right and are ill.  i’m constantly entertained  and curious about older people.  this blog will chronicle the stories of the people i meet.