How old do you think you can get before you croak?
“Life you may evade, but death you shall not.” T.S. Eliot
The oldest documented living person (a woman) is 114-year old Kama Chinen of Japan, who was born on 10 May 1895. The oldest living man at present, is 113-year old Walter Breuning, born 21 September 1896.
A friend of mine is planning a 99th-birthday party for her great-uncle Albert. When she told me about this, it made me contemplate this “longevity” thing. In some ways, I hope I make it to 130 years of age. Yet in other ways, I hope I am gone long before I reach the point of bedridden, Depends-clad, drooling senility. Know what I mean?
As medicine continues to improve, and as scientific breakthroughs become commonplace, our life expectancy lengthens. One day, the leading cause of death may be ourselves, killing one another…
