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My grandma was a Zoomer before her time

My grandma was a Zoomer before her time debgardner.jpg
I loved talking with Dr. David Demko, author of the new book, "Boomer Zoomer Stop Acting Your Age and Start Living Your Life." I thought his theories and advice on longevity were spot-on, and I appreciated the way he used himself as a guinea pig to test out his hypothesis. But I also realized that his advice sounded awfully familiar. Kind-of like the way my fraternal grandmother had lived her life. As I look back, my grandma, Emily Fuller who said she would be "70 her birthday" until she passed at 95 lived a Zoomer lifestyle long before there was a term for it. Raised on a farm, she believed in a healthy diet that included plenty of fruits and vegetables. She always said she didn't feel right unless she walked some every day (her usual stroll was at least a mile, and, because she didn't drive, she frequently walked to the old Agawam Public Market to do her shopping and the Agawam Congregational Church to attend services). When she injured a knee in her 80s, she started her own strength training regime with a towel-wrapped flatiron the old squat black kind that you heated on a wood stove. I remember the stacks of word search books next to her favorite chair in the living room I guess Grandma had discovered brain training long before it was chic and that her social calender was always full. She was a regular at the Ladies Aide meetings, the Garden Club, the Church Suppers where she volunteered to cook and Sunday morning services, where she often acted as a church greeter "to help the old people up the stairs." Grandma was a very positive person, and was never afraid to embrace new things. I remember when she decided to forgo her day dresses for gardening, and asked my advice on buying a pair of jeans (I was 16, she was in her late 70s). I also always marveled that a woman who was born in the horse and buggy age never batted an eyelash at climbing into my dad's four-seat small plane for a joyride. She'd seen so much in her lifetime, yet never talked much about the past. Grandma was always more interested in the next new thing. Perhaps that's the real secret to longevity. Always looking forward and thinking about the future. Grandma knew. Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor dgardner@reminderpublications.com