Ninety, the New Eighty

People are living longer. That?s a fact. According to the U.S. Census, the average life expectancy for females in 2012 is nearly 82 years; for males it is nearly 76. Way back in 1950, it was about 10 years younger for both: 71 years for females, and 65 for men.

Can you believe it? Men were dying, on the average, at the age of 65 back in the ?50s. If you remember your history, that was how the federal government came to set 65 as the age for Medicare and Social Security. Men, on the average weren?t living any longer than 65.

I personally know a handful of people in their 90s who are still active and assets to their communities. Here are just a few.

Helen Colby Swiers of Ft. Madison is an artist, author, and columnist. Known as ?Hel? by her friends, she is 92. Hel still paints (beautiful works of art), has written and published books (and is working on another), and still writes columns for the Fort Madison Daily Democrat. She?s proficient on the computer, and has her own apartment in an assisted living facility. I learned real quick that if I don?t answer her emails, I?m going to get a good scolding.

Robert (Bob) Stafford, of Mt. Pleasant is 96. His wife Violet is 90. They are both well-known figures at the Rec Center in Mt. Pleasant, where they get their daily exercise by walking on the indoor track. Bob also is a writer, and is well known by Des Moines Register readers. For years, Bob has taken it upon himself to sharpen the pencils and replace the paper in the pews at the First United Methodist Church. Bob and ?Vi? still live in their own home.

Thelma Ridinger, of Mt. Pleasant, is 97 years young, still lives in her octagonal house that her husband, now deceased, built, and still enjoys getting out for lunch with friends. At a recent birthday party for her, when she turned 97, Thelma reminisced about family, church, and helping her husband, Leonard, build their eight-sided house. If she had to do it all over again, she wouldn?t change a thing.

Glenwood Tolson, of Mt. Pleasant, is 96, lives in his own home, and just received an award for lifetime service to his community. For 47 years he was on the board of Community Action for Southeast Iowa, as a director and board member. He is known as ?Mr. Community Action,? and the Tolson Community Center in Mt. Pleasant is named after him. In 1997 he was National Community Action Volunteer of the year, and in 1981 he was Mt. Pleasant Citizen of the year. His only regret? He didn?t do enough.

All five people, in their 90s, quote family, God, service, nutrition, exercise, good medical care, and keeping their mind challenged, as keys to longevity.

If the trend toward longer life continues, and ?experts? say it will, by 2050, women will be living, on the average to 86 and men 81. Instead of reciting how many people we know in their 90s, we will be counting the number of people we know in their 100s. The 100s will be the new 90s. The keys to long life, I imagine, will still be about the same.

As a male, I feel slighted that women outlive men. Is it genetics, or that men are more stressed because of being the bread winner? Women bear the children, I don?t know anything more stressful than that. With more women becoming the main provider, but the gap of five years between average life expectancies remaining about the same, genetics seems to be the key.

Doesn?t seem fair.

Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com, or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com