One time I asked a hundred-year-old client, “Do you have any words of wisdom for young people?”

She thought a moment and nodded, “Eat while you still have your teeth.”

Many years ago, we went to Minnesota to visit Gar’s uncle who was nearing a hundred years old. As we were preparing to leave, he leaned through the truck’s window and told Gar that he felt Gar needed to do more with his life than what he was doing.

He said, “You have a lot of courage, determination and perseverance and I like that you don’t give up easily. You’re nervy and have spunk and sass. I call that moxie and you sure have it. You can do or be anything.”

I’ve taken care of a few people who are 100-plus in age and they’ve all had common denominators; they have grit, they’re tough, resilient, not easily swayed and they listen more than they talk. Listening more than talking? Gar will live to be a hundred.

I recently read an article on centenarians and was enamored by their no-nonsense view on life. Mr. Baker has done a lot of things: worked 40 years in what would become the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, wrote children’s books and received a patent for a football helmet developed to reduce concussion risks. Yet of all the things he did, he said his best advice was to choose the right spouse, which for him was Janet.

Ms. Hakoishi, at 107, still works as a barber because the Guinness World Record holder is 108, and she wants to work to 109 just to beat it. She credits her long life and good health to tea that she makes out of dried Japanese ginger, dayflowers and thistle, drinking three cups with every meal.

Mr. Grewal said, “Hold your ground, even if there’s consequences to standing up for what’s right.”

He said he has a routine, including sleep, exercise, and eating five vegetables and five fruits daily. I’m guessing he wouldn’t say pumpkin pie is a fruit. Dang it.

Mrs. Paldo and her husband had the same friends for 60 years. They’d get together with the same six couples once a month to visit and play pinochle. She said they knew if they needed each other, they could just stop by, as the door to any of their homes was always open.

Mrs. Taylor said to have self-worth and, just as important, remember that the mind is very powerful and since we create whatever thought we think, we need to be careful what we put into our mind.

Milly Skjordahl said that as a young person she lacked confidence which caused her to pass up opportunities because she didn’t think she was good enough. Starting work at 14, she’d bring most of her paycheck home to her parents who were struggling.

With time, she developed courage and went to work for the bicycle maker, Schwinn, and rising through the ranks, became one of the highest paid women there.

Treasure Zimmerman, age 103, still walks her dog every day. A retired physical education teacher, she learned to pilot planes and, for her 95th birthday, she drove by herself in her red Jaguar convertible from California to Kansas City. 

Canadian swimmer, Betty Brussel, recently set three world records in swimming. The person who wrote about her had the audacity to say, “In the time it took her, an Olympic athlete could have covered the same distance at least three times.”

How about a big cup of shut up!

I recently took a trek back in time with a nearly-100-year-old husband-wife team. Driving them from their home into town, we ran errands, stopping at a bank to make a deposit, then another bank to sign a paper.

Afterward, walking to a drugstore we got prescriptions, body lotion, face cream, lip ointment and aftershave. Strolling up the sidewalk we went into the next business, buying socks and Levis. Then drove to the office supply, purchasing printer cartridges.

Winding our way out of town, we stopped for birdseed and cat food. My clients rested while I drove home, processing what had transpired. They’d shopped local, keeping people employed, and ran into friends not seen in a while, catching up on each other’s families.

Was it more time-consuming than ordering from Amazon? Probably. Was it more expensive? I’m almost certain it was, but it was rewarding and meaningful, enjoying each other and life. I love centurions and how they think. They have moxie.