Making It On the Jar
Following that long-standing tradition pioneered by Willard
Scott, the Today Show regularly salutes people who are celebrating their 100th
birthday and beyond. Their name, city and picture appear on a Smucker’s jar
label graphic and the show host often quotes the celebrant’s aging wisdom.
Although I have more than thirty years to go, I plan to make it on the jar. I’m already planning my 100th birthday party. My guest list includes some people of my age who might not make it that long, as well as friends and family who are a couple of decades younger than me.
Some of the people who make it on the Smucker’s jar claim the predictable reasons for their longevity: eat well, exercise, don’t smoke or drink.
Others make more creative, fun claims:
A nightly martini for fifty years.
Eat chocolate every day.
Laugh a lot.
Always eat desert first.
I have plenty of reason to believe I’ll make it to 100. My mother and her three siblings were born in an era when life expectancy was 70, yet they all made it into their 90s. I lead a pretty healthy lifestyle. My daily diet includes two items that many experts say ward off diseases: coffee and red wine.
On the other hand, some aspects of my life conspire to keep me off that jar: stress, lack of proper sleep and Multiple Sclerosis.
How long do you want to live?
Quality of life is naturally a concern for boomers who benefit from today’s longer lifespans. If we have some kind of debilitating illness, do we really want to spend years or decades living with it?
Two years before my mother died, she made a simple yet profound statement while sitting in a wheelchair in the lobby of her nursing home: “I’m not living, I’m just existing.” At that point she had significant hearing and sight issues, couldn’t walk on her own and was beginning to experience dementia. Three decades earlier, when she was in her 60s (my current age), she walked everywhere, rode an exercise bike, read the daily newspaper cover to cover, started art classes at a neighborhood senior center and cooked three meals a day for her and dad. Her health decline started in her 80s, yet she was in great spirits during the 94th birthday party we gave her. She died a year and a half later, five years short of making it on the jar.
Some people I know don’t want to live much past 80. They see the negative side of aging and do not want that for themselves.
Within the past few years I’ve lost four people close to me, each in their 60s. One was a fitness instructor. Death is a certainty for all of us but timing and method are usually unpredictable.
Random thoughts about the Smucker’s jar: who will host it when I hit 100? Willard will be long dead, Al Rocker long retired, Dylan Dryer thinking about retirement. Will Smucker’s still exist? Will the Today show still exist? Will television exist? Will young media viewers in the 2050s think of television the way boomers think of 8-track tapes?
Sometimes I contemplate what I’d say during an interview on my 100th birthday. If I was asked today, I’d probably paraphrase the plot and lines in one of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs ... a man who turned 102 is asked what is the secret to life and he replies “trust me friend, a hundred years goes faster than you think, so don’t blink.”
Although I have more than thirty years to go, I plan to make it on the jar. I’m already planning my 100th birthday party. My guest list includes some people of my age who might not make it that long, as well as friends and family who are a couple of decades younger than me.
Some of the people who make it on the Smucker’s jar claim the predictable reasons for their longevity: eat well, exercise, don’t smoke or drink.
Others make more creative, fun claims:
A nightly martini for fifty years.
Eat chocolate every day.
Laugh a lot.
Always eat desert first.
I have plenty of reason to believe I’ll make it to 100. My mother and her three siblings were born in an era when life expectancy was 70, yet they all made it into their 90s. I lead a pretty healthy lifestyle. My daily diet includes two items that many experts say ward off diseases: coffee and red wine.
On the other hand, some aspects of my life conspire to keep me off that jar: stress, lack of proper sleep and Multiple Sclerosis.
How long do you want to live?
Quality of life is naturally a concern for boomers who benefit from today’s longer lifespans. If we have some kind of debilitating illness, do we really want to spend years or decades living with it?
Two years before my mother died, she made a simple yet profound statement while sitting in a wheelchair in the lobby of her nursing home: “I’m not living, I’m just existing.” At that point she had significant hearing and sight issues, couldn’t walk on her own and was beginning to experience dementia. Three decades earlier, when she was in her 60s (my current age), she walked everywhere, rode an exercise bike, read the daily newspaper cover to cover, started art classes at a neighborhood senior center and cooked three meals a day for her and dad. Her health decline started in her 80s, yet she was in great spirits during the 94th birthday party we gave her. She died a year and a half later, five years short of making it on the jar.
Some people I know don’t want to live much past 80. They see the negative side of aging and do not want that for themselves.
Within the past few years I’ve lost four people close to me, each in their 60s. One was a fitness instructor. Death is a certainty for all of us but timing and method are usually unpredictable.
Random thoughts about the Smucker’s jar: who will host it when I hit 100? Willard will be long dead, Al Rocker long retired, Dylan Dryer thinking about retirement. Will Smucker’s still exist? Will the Today show still exist? Will television exist? Will young media viewers in the 2050s think of television the way boomers think of 8-track tapes?
Sometimes I contemplate what I’d say during an interview on my 100th birthday. If I was asked today, I’d probably paraphrase the plot and lines in one of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs ... a man who turned 102 is asked what is the secret to life and he replies “trust me friend, a hundred years goes faster than you think, so don’t blink.”
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