A Conversation with a 93 Year Old- The Key to a long life?

As a lot fo you know, Rach’s Grandma Joan passed away last week at 91 years old. We’ve spent the weekend with family and yesterday at the visitation I had the pleasure of sitting down with Rach’s Great Uncle Ross who is 93 years old and we had quite the conversation.

So first off I was sitting by myself just observing the room in my own thoughts, there was a lot of people who came to pay their respects and I just made sure to stay out of the way and say Hi and introduce myself where needed. Ross came walking over and sat down beside me and truck up the conversation.

We had met before at my wedding and at family reunions but he asked who I was again and who I was with and said ” I was probably at your wedding but my memory is not what it used to be” which was sad but he was intuitive enough to realize that.

The he asked if I was the Gym guy which I told him I was. He asked me about business and competition in the industry and I began to realize he was a very smart gentlemen and I was intrigued to learn a bit more.

So I asked him about his life where I learned he grew up in Almira and at the age of 18 went to Queens University where he eventually became a Chemical Engineer and worked for the same firm for 39 years afterwards. I asked him what he did to stay fit and Knowledge Bomb number 1 was dropped. He told me he either swims or rides his bike every single morning and they days he misses he notices a dramatic decrease in energy and well being through the rest of the day. I realized Ross was a very intuitive person and needed to know more.

So I asked him what the key was to living to 93 years old, which he laughed at pretty hard to start and then he gave me his list, this is not science but rather the intuitive thoughts of a man who’s lived a long and healthy life.

His first answer was Genes and I agree, both his parents lived in to their 90’s and he was genetically pre-disposed to do the same given the right circumstances.

He second answer was he lived a clean life another one where I thought simple but true. In his day smoking was very common place and he had started young and gave it up young while everyone else was doing it all day long, he was also not a drinker and preferred real food over buying take out.

His third answer was he was always moving, whether running the Toronto marathon or swimming in Lake Erie or going for bike rides he was always active.

His last answer and the one I found intriguing was he liked games, he liked to play bridge and different styles traditional games which kept his mind sharp into his later years.

Now I don’t know how the percentage of each one of those things plays into his longevity but I do know that I can trust the advice of a 93 year old man who can walk his way around to give a 35 year old kid some words of wisdom,

Coach Dan