"May you live 100 years" is a blessing a trio of centenarians who are celebrating their birthdays this fall must have received in the past.Renee Blatt and Alex Estelle, who turned 100 this fall, and Dorothy Knauber at 101 are being honored by staff, family and friends.
Researchers say centenarians are most often extroverts with strong family ties, many friends and healthy self-esteem.That description fits each of The Gardens'centenarians well.
Renee Blatt plays bridge, listens to classical music and emails friends on her computer.Dorothy, or Dot as she prefers, watches football and visits with family and friends.Alex analyzes the stock market and will gently suggest a stock to an inquisitive investor.
Renee Blatt's memory is as extraordinary as her ability to speak four languages.Dressed in a bright red sweater with a blanket on her lap she says,
"There is so much I can tell you" as she begins her life story.
She recalls how she, her siblings and her parents left Austria for Switzerland "when the war was coming."That war was World War I. Years later, World War II looked imminent, so their family immigrated to the United States, where she found,
"Everything was interesting."
Mrs. Blatt's fingerraises foremphasis as she points out significant events: her marriage to a musician who became an accomplished opera conductor and her life as a wife and mother of two children.Shestops the listener if she is being rushed in her story. "There's so much in between," she explains.
Dressed in a brown sport coat and slacks, Alex Estelle remembers his life as an investor who bought and sold stock on the New York stock exchange for nine years.But it was the lamp store he owned for 40 years that made him economically successful. He enjoyed ballroom dancing until he turned 80.As for living a long successful life, he attributes it to luck but then advises, "Be careful what you eat."He suggests having pot roast and cream of wheat regularly.
Dot Knauber, the oldest of the trio, looks decades younger.Physically strong, she insists on using a walker instead of a wheelchair.Although she worries, "It's very hard to remember things," her memory is amazing.She easily recalls growing up on a farm in Nebraska, attending and teaching in a country school, marrying her high school sweetheart, raising three sons, and assisting her husband as he ran a sheet metal business.She lost her husband after 70 years of marriage and two of her sons passed away recently.
When Jimmy, her sons' boyhood friend, drops in she's delighted.Dot's known Jimmy since he was in kindergarten.She smiles as he tells her how much he enjoyed coming to her home."It was warm and welcoming. She made the best cinnamon rolls in the world."
Watching football is a favorite pastime.A long-time Cornhusker fan, she says emphatically, "Nebraska needs a new coach!"
According to The Gardens' life enrichment director,Dee Fernandez, it's unusual to have three residents celebrating 100-year birthdays at the same time.Dee who has worked in the assisted living field for over 35 years says the centenarians "Have taught me how to live life-that life is beautiful-and not to waste time on trivial stuff." That's 301 years of wisdom that everyone who knows the Gardens' centenarians celebrates.