following the lead of sir rhosis i’m curious who is the oldest living family member people have. i have a great great aunt who is 103, in july she’ll be 104 and is to everyone’s amazement still living.
My uncle. He’ll be 59 sometime later this year.
I have a really small family though. There’s only about 25 of us in all and that’s including my step-parents, cousins, and my brother-in-law.
You’ll probably win, daydreamer23. (Welcome to the Boards, BTW!)
I’ve got an aunt who’ll be 90 in April. Her younger sister (my mom, now dead, was the baby of the family) will be 89 in July.
My maternal grandmother and grandfather are still alive. He is 96, she is 94. They have been married for 76 years now. Even more remarkably he was a coal miner for many years and a smoker, and she has had juvenile diabetes her whole life. I like these genes of mine.
My grandfather on my father’s side is 92 and still going strong. My grandmother is about 87, though, and starting to lose her memory pretty badly. Her mother, however, was healthy enough to live on her own until she was 99, then quickly declined and died in a nursing home at 101.
My grandmother is 92 and sharp as a tack. She came to the UP of Michigan from Kentucky in a Model T Ford in 1928, along with her parents and siblings. How do I know this? I’m in the midst of transcribing a 3 hour interview between her and a man gathering information about Michigan’s lumber camps.
These tapes are like gold to me. What a life that woman has led!
I’m attending my aunt’s 99th birthday party on Sunday. She’s still mentally sharp and gets around pretty well. Last week she asked someone to get out of her pew at church - she’s been sitting there for more than 70 years (and boy is her ass sore).
I have a great-uncle on my mother’s side who’s 100-ish. Then again, he may have died and no one bothered to tell us.
Everyone on my mother’s side of the family lives into their 90s, and their last five or ten years are sheer hell in nursing home or assisted-living.
My father’s side of the family has the common sense to keel over dead of a heart attack in their 70s.
I sincerely hope I take after Dad.
gosh, she must be nearly 100 by now.
Some of my family is very long lived, others, not so much.
Jeez, that’s a downer. Given the choice, I’d hope you’d do your own thing, because neither one of those sound fun.
I met my grandfather’s grandfather, twice (once when I was 10, which I remember very clearly.) How many people can say that? He was 104 and at least a great-great-great-grandfather. I don’t think he made it to 4-greats but I’m not sure. He was a blacksmith and a farmer until he was 101 and did great on his own until he was put in a nursing home. Went downhill fast from there.
My great-great-aunt on my mom’s side lived to be 92.
Other than those two, we usually drop in our 60s and 70s. I have a pretty huge family and I’m almost positive that the current oldest is my great aunt that will be 79 this year, and she can’t have more than 5 years left in her.
I guess only time will tell if I hit the genetic goldmine.
I lost my grandad this year at 100. I think he could have gone on for awhile longer . . . but he missed grandmom.
My maternal grandfather is 94, my grandmother is 92 (actually, he says he’s 34 because he switched to the Celcius scale). They both get around amazingly well, still live in their own home, and are almost completely self sufficient. He’s still mentally sharp as a tack. She, due to a minor stroke last year, has sporadic trouble remembering words - but after 75 years together he can generally finish her sentences for her anyway. He still plants a garden every spring, though it’s down to “only” about a quarter acre now.
I have to wonder, though, when one dies will the other last very long.
My wife’s grand parents are 100 and 98 and have been married for over 75 years. They still live on their own but have someone look in on them three times a week. Grandma still drives but Grampa stopped driving a couple of years ago (at 98).
The grandkids all got Grandma WebTV for her 95th birthday and she sends out emails every week.
My wife is going to outlive me by decades.
Haj
By coincidence, my mother-in-law turns 90 today.
Shel lives by herself (my father-in-law died about eight years ago), drives, keeps up the house, is very active in her church, and goes out gambling with her friends every Wednesday. And she is as sharp as ever - talks just as well about what happened yesterday as what happened sixty years back.
If I live to be 90 - I won’t - I hope I am like that.
Happy Birthday, Grandma - your favorite son-in-law loves you!
Regards,
Shodan
Yep, I lose this old age contest… an uncle by marriage (my mother and one of her sisters liked older men, obviously) just turned 97.
Sir Rhosis
I have a great-grandmother will be turning 92 in either a few days or a couple weeks, can’t remember which…
There’s no one else in my family (who I know, anyway) even approaching that age. Everybody else ended up dying off. Though to be fair, I believe a few of my great grandparents lived longer–they were just older when I was born.
I have a picture of me as a young child taken with my mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great-great-grandmother. She was 104 nearly 105. My great-grandmother (from the picture) is now approaching 102. Obviously some longevity genes from my mothers side
To some, the women in my moms family may seem incredibly lucky… who doesn’t want a long life?
However, one must take into consideration that both my great-great and great grandmothers have had Alzheimer’s since they were in their late 60’s, early 70’s. Already we tease my grandmother and mother about “losing their minds” (not to put on a light spin on a serious disease, but we feel the right to joke since it seems to run in our family). While long life seems fun, I’d like to be able to remember it :).
So back to the question, my oldest “living” relative is no longer living, however her daughter is making a run for matching her advanced age
I have a 94 year old great uncle who still water-skis (even though his doctor ordered him to stop when he turned 90).
My great aunt turns 94 in May, and just published her first book and appeared on a radio show to promote it.
My grandpa is 90 - turns 91 in March and is planning a trip to Antartica, because it’s the only place in the world he’s never been.
Otherthan that, all my relatives drop dead in their 60’s.
Hey! I can win this thread!
But only because I married into a family who are to longevity what the Waltons are to money.
3 of my wife’s 4 grandparents lived past 95. (The one who didn’t, died of black lung.) One is still alive.
She is 106, and turns 107 this spring. She still gets out and plays Bingo once a week.