Friday night Rob and I went with my boss and his wife to the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra "Salute to Big Bands" show. Another organization in town gave us four free tickets and my boss treated us to dinner so it was a great free date for us. :)
We had just settled into our seats at the orchestra when the little old lady next to me leaned over and whispered, "are you wearing a diamond ring?" Rather startled I looked at her and said, "yes, I am." She held up her own ring and said, "I've never been in a place where the lights make diamonds sparkle so much." And she was right, the brilliant lights high above made our diamonds display a thousand beautiful colors inside the small stone.
We struck up a conversation when, after admiring our diamonds, I asked her how long she'd been married. She said her husband had passed away in 2000, but they had been married for 60 years when he died. I also found out that she was 90 years old, that she had season tickets to the MPO, that she still drives (not sure if I should be scared about that one...), and that she had so many grandchildren and great-grandchildren she'd lost count.
At intermission we kept talking and I asked more about her grandchildren. She looked up at me with her eyes sparkling and said, "do you want to see pictures?" Now, I've learned that when an older person asks if you want to see photos of their precious kiddos, you definitely say yes because how could you say no to a sweet 90 year old woman? You can't. It's rude. So of course I said yes, and as she was pulling them out of her purse she said, "well, when I was rushing around getting ready to come here tonight I thought, should I bring these? And I decided that yes I should, and now here you are asking about to see them. I think the angels tell us things like that sometimes." I smiled and agreed and admired the pictures of her really precious looking little ones.
Later I asked her how one lives to be 90. What are her secrets? Here is what she said, as verbatim as I can tell it: "First, I thank God everyday for this life. Secondly, I eat a lot of raw vegetables. They're very good for you. Then, third, a long time ago I read this book about a doctor who found a town in New Hampshire or Vermont, I forget, where the people lived a very long time, much longer than people in surrounding towns. The one common denominator was that most of the people drank a glass of hot water with a tablespoon of cider vinegar and a tablespoon of honey in it every morning. It sounds very strange, but it's really not so bad. So I drink that every morning."
So there you have it folks. A hot water, cider vinegar, and honey drink everyday = living to be 90. I am pretty sure Jesus will come back or I'll die from my hereditary high cholesterol before I get to 90, but if that's one of your life goals, well, take it from Julia.
Oh and the show was very good -- very 1930s/1940s swing type music, but my favorite part was meeting and talking with Julia. You really don't meet people like her everyday, but when you do, it's really great.
