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I have to agree with both of these comments. I've known quite a few elderly people, relatives in their upper 90's (not genetically related), and very few had a good quality of life past the early 90's. My great uncle Harrold was an exception --he was a practicing dentist at 94, and fell ill and died within a week--no infirmity, no loss of mental capacity. My grandmother, on the other hand (again, not genetically related), was 91, and she was a physical mess, in a lot of pain, when she died; her sister made it to about 97 and she was not a happy camper (although that was largely because she was a fairly stupid person with few interests.) I have a friend right now who is 90. She's been hale and hearty until a year or so ago, but has failed rapidly and now is in a care facillity, her mental faculties finally going (not Alzheimer's I think, just plain old mild senility.)
So I think a healthy 90 would be a great age to make it to. I doubt I will, with my genetic background.
But...I think quality of life is MUCH more important than the length of it. I could die tomorrow and be happy with my life.
I agree with you and Lenora on the longevity issues being overated in some instances at least. I have no desire to live into my 70's 80's or 90's to be quite honest considering my health isn't the best as it is and I'm not looking to it getting better, so
My grandmother (mother's side) side at 83 I think, can't remember when my grandfather died. My father died a week after his 46th birthday - he had heart disease all his life, my mother died at 53 of cancer of the bile duct (who the hell knows what that is) and she suffered for a long time while the doctor gave her vallium for her 'symptoms' ... older brother died at 61 of prostate cancer and I'm pushing 65 now and have been in pain for over 15 years with osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis ... living long is overrated especially if you are in pain all the time and the meds they give you for it makes you a zombie
Very fascinating reading some of these entries, people who lived through the 19th century and such! So much history and change!
Too my knowledge, my oldest current living relative is 88, he's my great grandpa and a cowboy. He still works on his farm working with the cattle with no problem. He almost had a heart attack in 2004 once though and we had to drive 6 hours from the farm to our home and take him to a hospital, but his health has been vigorous since then.
My great grandpa died at age 90, he was born 1919 so he'd be 94 today. He made it to an old age but with health problems, suffered a stroke in the early 2000s and he wouldn't be able to speak properly for the last years of his life, all he could say is his wife's nickname.
Strokes seem to be the worst thing my family is known to get, (great grandma had one as well) I don't know any relatives that have/had cancer or diabetes or died at a young age. I'm hoping the future looks good fer me.
My friend's great grandma turned 103 recently which is an impressive number, she's also black which means she's certainly known her share of former slaves, which really puts in perspective how RECENT slavery was in this country. My cousin in law's great grandmother (or grandmother not sure) was once the oldest living person in Minnesota, and the state commemorated her for it, not sure how old she was but must have been far in her 100s.
If we are talking about biological relatives as opposed to in-laws, then for me:
Oldest ever (male): My great-grandfather's brother (my paternal grandfather's uncle), who lived between 1906 and 2002 and died at the age of 95.
Oldest ever (female): I honestly don't know for sure, but it could be either my great-grandmother (my paternal grandfather's mother), who lived between 1894 and 1985 and died at the age of 91, my great-great grandmother, who lived between 1881 and 1972 and died at the age of 90 or 91, or my great-grandmother's sister (my maternal grandmother's aunt), who probably lived between the 1890s and the 1980s and who probably died in her early 90s.
Oldest living (male): My great-grandfather's cousin, who was born in 1921 and who as far as I know is currently still alive at the age of 92.
Oldest living (female): As far as I know, my grandmother's cousin, who as far as I know was born in 1932 and who as far as I know is currently still alive at the age of 81 or, less likely, at the age of 80.
For reference, though, I lost many of my relatives in the Holocaust, and one of my great-grandfather's sisters (who would have survived the Holocaust since she already moved to Argentina and who probably had good genes) died in childbirth. Thus, without these huge/enormous misfortunes, I might have very well already had at least one centenarian relative by now.
Maternal grandmother lived to be 94. My mother will be 85 next week, still chugging along.
I believe my grandmother's grandfather made 102.
On my father's side (he died at 78), I had a great-aunt who lived to be 99. She was born in 1900 and died in 2000, a few months short of her 100th. I always thought, "Couldn't she just have hung on a few more months?" LOL.
At 95, she left NJ and moved with her late nephew's widow (Great-aunt Alice never married or had children) to Florida. She loved it there, but in her last year she began to go blind and to have trouble walking, and then she said she was ready to die because she couldn't read or go anywhere anymore, and so she did.
97 yr old great aunt who outlived 5 husbands and had children by them all - family reunions were VERY confusing - I can still recall the woman - little, hopped about like a little bird, laughing all the time and chatting a mile a minute in Rusyn (Slovak)
My grandfather's grandmother (yes, his GRANDMOTHER) was over 106 (?) when she passed away. I did not know her. See my profile page/album for pics. There is a 6 generation picture there that made the newspaper when my second cousin Robbie was an infant.
True story from the 1950's, I have posted before about my great-grandmothers (I did not know either).......
The 84 year old fell down in the store. While being carried out, she kept saying "my mother will be so worried, my mother will be so worried". Of course at her age they thought she had hit her head and was incoherent. Nope, her mother was still alive and 104 yrs. old.
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