Shirley Hodes, 106, hasn’t seen her little sister, Ruth “Ruthy” Sweedler, 103, in person since 2015. Visiting is difficult, since they live in different assisted living facilities thousands of miles apart — Hodes outside Asheville, North Carolina, and Sweedler outside Hartford, Connecticut — and neither is too mobile anymore.
Still, they speak on the phone three times a week. Hodes uses a landline specially selected to have giant numbers and as few buttons as possible, since her eyes aren’t so keen.
Regardless, she’s going to do whatever she needs to stay connected to her only remaining sibling. She and Sweedler were the youngest of their working-class immigrant parents’ eight children.
“Family is very important to us,” says Hodes. “Close relationships are very important. They keep you going.”
Sweedler agrees: The key to longevity is to “be happy, be healthy, and have love in your life.”
From afar, Hodes and Sweedler seem as similar as two slices of rye bread. They’re both tiny, beaming Jewish widows with puffy hair the color of late-winter snow.
But they insist on their individuality. She and her little sister aren’t “very much alike at all,” Hodes says. Sweedler “likes to boast.”
Hodes “pokes into people’s lives,” says Sweedler. By contrast, “I just want to have an up-to-date conversation about what’s going on in the world.”
“I’m very nosy,” Hodes admits, unconcerned. But “everybody needs other people! Life would be empty if you didn’t meet and want to know about other people.”
‘Keep your body in good shape and your mind in good shape’
There’s little value to living past 100 if you can’t enjoy your time here, the sisters agree. That means taking care of yourself in a holistic way. “You need good health so you can participate in life,” says Hodes.
“Keep your body in good shape and your mind in good shape,” says Sweedler. “Then you’ve got it made.”
1. Get your steps in
Long before Fitbits or iPhones tracked you so you could see how close you come to hitting 10,000…
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