Old?

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]In case you think you're old...[/FONT][/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]Jeanne Louise Calment had the longest confirmed human[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]Lifespan on record: 122 years and 164 days.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]It seems that fate strongly approved of the way Madam Calment lived her life.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]Jeanne was born in Arles, France, on 21st February 1875.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]When the Eiffel Tower was built, she was 14 year old.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]It was at this time that she met Vincent van Gogh.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"He was dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable," she recalled in an interview given in 1988.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]When she was 85, she took up fencing, and she was still riding on her bike when she reached 100.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]When Jeanne was 114, she starred in a film about her life; at 115 she had an operation on her hip, and at 117 she gave up smoking (having started at the age of 21 in 1896).[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]Apparently, she didn't give it up for health reasons, but because she didn't like having to ask someone to help her light a cigarette once she was becoming almost blind.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]In 1965, Jeanne was 90 years old and had no heirs.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]She signed a deal to sell her apartment to a 47-year-old lawyer called André-François Raffray.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]He agreed to pay her a monthly sum of 2,500 francs on the condition that he would inherit her apartment after she died.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]However, Raffray not only ended up paying Jeanne for 30 years, but died before she did at the age of 77.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]His widow was legally obliged to continue paying Madam Calment until the end of her days.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]Jeanne retained sharp mental faculties.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]When she was asked on her 120th birthday what kind of future she expected to have, she replied: "A very short one."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]Quotes and rules of life from Jeanne Calment:[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"Being young is a state of mind, it doesn't depend on one's body, I'm actually still a young girl; it's just that I haven't looked so good for the past 70 years."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I've only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"All babies are beautiful."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I've been forgotten by our good lord."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I'm in love with wine."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"Always keep your smile. That's how I explain my long life."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"If you can't change something, don't worry about it."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I have a huge desire to live and a big appetite, especially for sweets."

[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I never wear mascara; I laugh until I cry too often."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I see badly, I hear badly, and I feel bad, but everything's fine."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I think I will die of laughter."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I have legs of iron, but to tell you the truth, they're starting to rust and buckle a bit."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot]"I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I'm very lucky."[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [FONT=&quot](At the end of one interview, in response to a journalist who said he hoped they would meet again the following year):[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Why not? You're not that old; you'll still be here."[/FONT]--

Lovely!

Her attitude reminds me of my very healthy, 101 year old mother in law. She's a peach, in very good health (mentally and physically) and a joy to have around.

Tip me hat to the grand old lady!


Cheers.


H.