The White House will send official greetings on request to anyone celebrating an 80th birthday or greater or a 50th anniversary or greater. Not everyone makes it to 100! You just write these people six weeks in advance: The White House Attn: Greetings Office Washington, D.C. 20502-0039 I used to think I would like to live 120 years, there are so many interesting things to do and it is hard to imagine getting them all done in only 70 years or so. These days I consider anyone who died at an age under 80 to have died young. Plus, I have been such a fan of science fiction, it would be interesting to see them develop the things seen first in fiction. But we already have communicators. I think it would depend on how I felt. If I was crippled from osteoporosis, brain fogged from Alzheimer’s and no longer had the ability to appreciate how beautiful each day can be, maybe it would be a mistake to hold on too long. Maybe the folks who believe in reincarnation are right, and I would come back as someone I would like to be. But who knows? Anyway, it will not be up to me. It is, to the extent that I try to stay as healthy as I can. I exercise, I take vitamins, I get plenty of sleep and I try to stay out of traffic. Even so, one never knows. Carpe diem!

Last week my son called to tell me his mother-in-law was dying from pancreatic cancer. Her name is Ann and she is sixty years old. We are the same age, and became close friends. When I talked to my son last night, he told me Ann is refusing any medical treatment which would prolong her life and relieve some of the pain. He said, “Mom, I think she is ‘ready’.” My son paused. “Mom, she’s adamant, and seems at peace with her decision.” My son’s dilemma is comforting his wife, Ann’s mother, because my daughter-in-law cannot comprehend why her mother has made the decision to ‘quit’. Ann recently returned from China in June following a two-year teaching post. She is a brilliant woman fluent in five languages, and also speaks Swahili and Arabic. Ann has a unique ethnic, religious, and social heritage and she has traveled extensively. My dear friend, Ann was raised Irish Catholic, Christian, and Muslim. Born in Kenya to a wealthy Irish father and a native Kenyan mother of the Kikuyu people, Ann has endured many tragedies in her life. The most difficult challenge, she told me, was having to leave her two young daughters in the late 70’s because she could not cope with her Muslim husband’s decision to move his second wife into their home. She had to flee because her Muslim husband would not allow her to take their children. Ann also coped with a son born with acute autism, and more recently (2003), she lost her second husband, a diplomat, who died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. I last saw Ann when she returned to America for a brief visit (last year) following her first year teaching in China. We talked about human rights violations, hunger, and disease, which she has witnessed among the poor in Africa, India, and China. We communicate twice a week via email, and Ann never hinted that she was ill. When she returned to America in June, she moved to an ashram in New Hampshire. I remember our conversation. Ann said, “I’ve come to appreciate that this world has wonderful people from all walks of life who believe in a higher power. And, despite the horrors I’ve seen, I know that good will overcome evil … eventually. Yet, I worry because there is too much cruelty and wickedness against the defenseless, and the world is looking away.” When I pondered how I would answer today’s question, ‘Do I want to live to be 100?’, I thought of Ann and her decision to not accept treatment to delay the inevitable: she will die from from pancreatic cancer. When I called Ann earlier this morning, she did not answer my call. I knew I would tell her that I love her, and that I respect her choice. Why? Because I would make the same decision. I don’t want to live to be 100 if it means I will witness the destruction of this country (from a revolution or disaster). I do not want to live to be 100 if I’m not functioning mentally, of if I’m so physically incapacitated that I’d be an emotional and financial strain on my family. I don’t want to live to be 100 to see my grandchildren suffer grave economic and social hardship, whereby they loose hope for attaining a comfortable quality of life if this country becomes corrupted by greed and crippled by decadence. Living a long life, for me, must afford a measurable degree of hope, joy, and celebration. And, as I wait for my dear friend Ann to return my call, I feel a deep sense of grief, but also, I sense that Ann might escape the dreaded ‘Domesday’, which my gut tells me is inevitable - perhaps in the next 40 years, if I live to be 100.

Not me, at least unless I get a really good job, or win a million! Being poor is nasty when you’re old!

Why 100? I want to live forever! I just can’t conceive of not being. My mother died seven years ago this past Sunday. She was 91, but had Alzheimer’s for about five or six years. She didn’t know who I was, and it was heartbreaking to see her that way. I don’t want to burden my children, so if I’m not in good health, I guess I wouldn’t want to live that long. But I’m hoping for the best.

Yes with a capital Y! I want to enjoy life as long as I can, but only if I can be assured it is a life that is filled with energy, excitement, family, love, sex, romance, companionship, friendship, education, heady conversations and debates, great food and music, entertainment, travel, great books, laughter, and occasional cigar and game of pool…..and most of all good health.

i promised my sons when they were young that i would never die. they are older now and maybe wiser to the possibility, but i still say i’ll live forever. why not? ain’t life grand?

It has taken me 83 years to find an answer to this particular question. As long as I have my health and can walk around and take care of myself there is no ending number. Not afraid of dying but like most people I would rather not lose myself. Dying is easy. loss of self is hard.

Well Im only a teen and I really wanna get a little older now, maybe like twenty seven but I want to live to be one hundred so much. Not much people in my country live to be that age u know. Its hot over here and we dont have alot of malls and stuff. I guess people just die out in Guyana because mostly of diseases and crime and just their family genes. It’s like in Guy, when u reach a certain age, U ole bad. and we young peeps call them old people. But it would be great like I said to reach one hundred. By then, I would have enough knowledge of this world then I would exit. I wanna live to see when they find a cure for AIds and cancer and when everyone in the world is well fed and nourished, then I want to exit. But u know, everyone might be living a good life then, no one dies. So its good to have hope? LOL Love, Felicia