Centenarians

As we contemplate a trip to Chicago this weekend to celebrate my husband’s Aunt Zelda’s 101st birthday, I wondered how many people in the US are over 100 years old.  I made a guess of 1,000 that turned out to be way off.  I was basing this on the fact that I don’t think I have ever even met anyone over 100.  I guess all those numbers I once held in my head when I worked at the Census Bureau have slipped away.

This source says there are now over 96,000 centenarians in the US.  And the number continues to grow as people live longer.

I’m looking at my own body and thinking I would have to live another 40 years in it to reach that age.  I’m afraid I might need a few more bionic parts to make it.

I’m not even sure I would want to live that long.  Especially not if the people I care most about don’t make it with me.

So we’ll see how Zelda is faring as she continues to exist in the Self-Help Home in Chicago.  As much as she complained about leaving her efficiency apartment a few years ago, being around all those other people has been really good for her.  She now has an audience for her home-spun psychology, which she has been dishing out for years.

She is as cantankerous as ever.  Her first response when we said we were coming was “Why would you want to spend all that money?”  Some things never change, even after 100.