Life is Like a Rusty Buick

Photograph by Mother Jones, RN


Forrest Gump said that life was like a box of chocolates, but Millie would have disagreed. She had a different view on life. I met Millie in 1974 when she was 100 years old, and she was quite a lady. I learned many secrets from her about living a full life.

Millie had been a schoolteacher and a suffragette. She told me that the first presidential candidate she voted for was Woodrow Wilson because he had an honest face. Millie lived through the Great Depression, two World Wars, and witnessed countless scientific breakthroughs that changed our planet forever. She was a very wise woman. One day I asked her to tell me how she lived to be 100 years old. She said that life is like traveling down a bumpy road in a Buick. She said that a Buick has zip and vitality just like we have when we are young, and then, over the years, they wear out as they travel down the road. She said that we get more dents and dings in our body over time just like a car does, and that if we live to be 100 years old, our body is ready for the junkyard. She said that the secret to longevity is the ability to understand that we don’t stop living once our body turns into a rust bucket with worn out tires and too many miles on the engine.

And so it goes. Enjoy your weekend.