Long lifespan

I am acquainted with some people who have been able to reach a very advanced age, before they went the way of all flesh. All of them are or were females. This is a matter of course because most females are not tossed about by their emotions, while we cannot say the same thing about males. Men easily become the victims of their emotion, which is understandable, since they are "the heads of the households and their tasks are to make sure that the chimneys of their kitchens emit smoke" (to coin an Indonesian expression).

I have, through the years (I am 71 now), made careful observations of septuagenarians and octogenarians, to use a dignified expression for people of respectively in their 70s and 80s. I do not know the word for people 90 years old or over.

Most females who reach the age of 90 or more are generally very gentle and taciturn, perhaps they are mindful of "out of the mouth comes evil", so they studiously avoid gossip or speak ill about other people.

They are neither gourmets nor gluttons, which is the key to maintaining good health. For that matter, a biologist alleged: Caloric restriction could take us well beyond a lifespan of 80. After all, you rarely see a centenarian with a potbelly.

Their children and grandchildren see to it that the grandmother or great-grandmother does not have any financial problems, although their character of simplicity does not need much money and again for that matter, they are guided by the universal belief that "money is the root of all evil".

I believe I have summed up the most important characteristics necessary to gain a long life span.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta