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“My name is Agnes Gertrude Eleanor and I am 90 years old. Just kidding. I bet you would expect me to have an old lady name like this, but my mother was a sensible woman! My name is Claire. Granny enough for ya? Ha ha.
90. I’m a prune, I know. But a living prune nonetheless! Even more surprising than my age is the fact that I am happy, healthy, and loving my long life!
I don’t have Alzheimer’s. I don’t have heart disease. I don’t use a cane. Yes, I remember what I ate for dinner three nights ago (rice pilaf, spinach, turkey leg, yum!).
And I don’t have a husband! No, he didn’t die off on me. I didn’t outlive him. He never existed!
This story originally appeared on Love What Matters.
I’m convinced these leafy greens aren’t the only reason I’m alive this long. The lack of stress from living hubby-free has kept me alive, truckin’ (as my granddaughter likes to say), and going all these years, I’m convinced of it.
In my lifetime, I’ve known dozens of men to cheat on their wives, turn to the needle and abandon them, die and leave them heartbroken. I just wanted no part in it. I know this to be true because I used to be one of those forsaken wives!
The only husband I ever had did all three. Cheated, battled addiction, lost, overdosed, leaving me being in a trail of tears, betrayal, and heartbreak that took me a WHOPPING ten years to get over. A whole decade, ladies and gents.
I vowed I would never let a man make me feel the hurt he did. So, I kept away from men. It’s not that I avoided them per say. I just wasn’t interested. A flip inside me turned off.
I kept many male friends throughout the years, some alive now, some gone. There were passes and moves made, but I was too busy loving life as an individual.
Now, this was not an easy thing back in the day. Being single for so long, others questioned what was wrong with me. They thought it wasn’t my place in society to be without a man! But I persevered. I cook, I clean, but for myself!
Being an older woman now, many people ask me for advice and wisdom. They ask me about the wars and protests I’ve seen. What the secret to living long is.
If I could say one thing, it would be this: You don’t need no man! I’m stress free. I’m joyous. I’m free! Mic drop. Claire out.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Claire V., with help from her granddaughter Grace L.
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