The Secrets to Living a Longer Life According to Centenarians

When I was a kid I lived near a nursing home and every Sunday after church my parents would take us to visit with the residents.  I became friends with a man named Fred who was 106 years old, sitting with him hours on end as he told me stories of his life.

When I asked Fred what the secret was to living a long life, he told me two things. He told me to never hold grudges because they’d only “eat away” at my insides and he told me to marry a good man because that would make me happy and happy people live longer.

I got in trouble one Sunday, probably over something stupid because I can’t even remember why, and my Dad’s punishment was that I wouldn’t be allowed to go to the nursing home after church. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Fred. He died in his sleep that day.

A lot of people have been searching for the secret to living a long life and today, two people over the age of 100 have shared their secrets with us.

Harry Rosen is 103 years old and says he stays sharp by going out for a fancy meal in Manhattan every single night. He lives alone and after the death of his wife five years ago, he realized he found comfort by dining at top-rated restaurants. “It’s my therapy, it lifts my spirits,” he told the New York Times last week. He says that because he eats alone, people at other tables start conversations with him. When they ask his age, he often lies and tells them he’s 90. “If I tell them my real age, it becomes the whole subject of conversation and makes it look like I’m looking for attention, which I’m not,” he said. But he’s certainly worthy of it!

Meanwhile a 111-year-old woman has revealed her youthful secrets and they’re not what you’d expect.  Dorothy Peel says she spent her life drinking regularly and smoking 20 cigarettes a day! She says, “In the morning I had half a pint of sherry, for lunch a gin and tonic and around 7pm, a small ginger ale with a bit of whiskey. These days I just have a sherry now and again.” She also quit smoking at age 103 after a bout of bronchitis. But she says, “I am living proof that a little of what you fancy does you good. And I think not having had kids has helped. That’s probably why I look and feel so good.”