Why I want to live to be 100 (An answer to “Why I want to die at 75”

Okay I don’t normally respond to stupidity, but this time it is personal. A so called Doctor with apparently no bedside manner named Doctor Ezekiel Emanuel age 57 has written a book with that name. He has apparently surmised that at that age we will begin to lose the value of life. On MSNBC this morning he also said our creativity begins to wane. While I applaud the good doctor for the commercial value of the title, I believe there are too many exceptions to the rule to say after 75 a person has nothing to give to society. It is also a matter of perspective. Years ago I worked with a young man who told me matter of factly, that he did not want to live past 60. I ran into the man not long ago, and he had reached that age; I hate to say it, but the man was sick with a terrible disease. I can tell you that his attitude has changed, and he is fighting to live as long as he can now. As a 75-year-old man on the cusp of 76 I would never place a boundary on life. The doctor had some good points if you put everyone in a group; we are more apt to suffer from ailments including mental disorders like Alzheimer’s, and physical problems of course, but I have faith in things moving forward when it comes to science, and medicine. I believe a person should fight for that next breath, that next day, and that next year as long as he or she can in the hope that from somewhere in this world a cure for their particular ailment will be found.
I looked up some of the people with accomplishments after 75.
Benjamin Franklin helped draft the Constitution when he was 80.
Pablo Picasso was turning out masterpieces in his 90s
Grandma Moses painted into her late 70s
My Mother who passed away at 86 still had the ability to laugh at my jokes, and give me the same assurances that and life affirming advice she did when I was a child. It is what I want my wife and me to be able to do for our children and grandchildren for as long as we can, and definitely well after my 70s.
Dr. Emanuel will undoubtedly change his mind as he approaches that threshold, and I hope in the next 18 years before he reaches 75 he will want to reach the century mark like I do.

More From AM 1050 KSIS