November 22, 2006
One Day at a Time
A while back, one of The Three Tomatoes weekly topics was on living to
be 100. And in our poll that week, most of you said you’d like to get to that distinguished age assuming you had your
health and your wits about you. Well last week, The Three Tomatoes had the unique
privilege of interviewing the most wonderful, almost 100 year old woman and we’d like to share that experience with you.
In fact, it’s our Thanksgiving present to all of you dear tomatoes.
Meet Anna
We showed up at Anna’s apartment and were greeted at the door by Anna
. She lives by herself and still cooks her own meals by the way. She is a
tiny woman and still beautiful, with a great smile and curious, intelligent blue eyes. She was beautifully dressed in a turquoise
satin blouse and wool skirt. Except for her diminishing eyesight and hearing, Anna is in good health (age considered) and her mind
and spirit would put women half her age to shame.
Her wonderful family, all 103 of them, children, grandchildren, and great
grandchildren, will gather over Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate her impending milestone. As it happened, we were her third
interview of the week, so she was quite the pro at answering all our questions.
New York City in the early
1900’s…
Anna Barthelenghi was born on December 24, 1906 right here in New York
City. She recalled the days of horse and buggies and trolley cars. Al Smith was her neighbor, as
were several mafia types whom she said kept the neighborhood very safe. Her earliest movie recollections were of seeing Al Jolsen
and she loved all the great MGM musicals. We asked her what it was like living in New York City during the depression, and we
loved her unexpected answer which was, “Well, for us not much changed. I think it was the “upper-class”
who suffered, because they were the ones who had something to lose.” She does recall that people really reached
out and helped each other in those days. She also recalled when her brothers went off to WWI, which she said was a very difficult
time, but fortunately they came back safe and sound.
Advice on Marriage
The thing that really strikes you about Anna is her upbeat
attitude. She’s always been an optimistic person and considers herself a happy person, which you feel just by being
in her presence. Her optimism, spirit, and faith surely helped her get through the death of her husband when she was only
58, and helped her survive breast cancer and chemo for a year when she was 75 years old. Her eyes sparkled when she told us
about fun and adventurous times with her husband, like riding on the back of his motorcycle all the way from New York City to
Canada. “Well, it was cheaper than traveling by car”, she said. When we
asked her if she ever dated after her husband died, she said, well not really because I always had “all these kids” around
me. We think however, that she has no regrets in that area. Her advice on marriage was “people are
always on their best behavior until you live with them.”
The greatest inventions?
The telephone and the computer. But she also warned us of the
evils of the computer too and young girls being snatched. Even in her day, she said there were
“snatchers.” We asked her what she thought was wrong in the world today, and she reminded us
it’s not “the world” it’s the people. And we all need to learn to be nicer to each other and help one
another. You know, she makes it sound really simple.
What does she worry about these days?
Her “kids.” Still.
And she always reminds all the girls to stick together when they go out. One of our favorite stories is when she
found out that her widowed daughter was dating someone, which she thought was fine until she found out her daughter met him in a bar.
She called her daughter at 7:30 in the morning , and said “You know, I’ve been thinking all night, and I really
don’t think that’s the best way to meet people.” Once a Mom, always a Mom.
How do you get to be 100?
“You get there one day at a time” she
answered. And she does acknowledge great genes. Her father lived to be 102 and her sister
was 105. But she honestly, never thinks about her age. (We love that attitude!) She’s
always been physically active (lots of walking), she eats lots of veggies, very few starches, and never drank much more than a glass of
wine. (Well, maybe it’s time we introduce her to those martinis.)
Her beauty routine?
One of the things that strikes you immediately about Anna, is her beautiful
skin and great hair. Her beauty products? Vaseline (“you smear it on and
leave on your face til you can’t stand it any more”), a little corn starch which you brush on your face, and VO5 for your
hair. No fancy dandy, pricey products in her cabinets! Oh, and she thinks plastic surgery is silly and
“eventually you’ll just look your age anyway.”
What would she still like to do?
Travel. “I love adventure and I’d
love to see new places.”
Well here’s to you dear Anna. You are an inspiration
to all of us and we wish you a wonderful birthday.
And that dear tomatoes, is our Happy Thanksgiving gift to you.
Here’s to optimism, a great spirit, faith, forgetting your age, being nicer, helping other people, and loving the
adventure. Oh, and we’d add those martinis too.
Our best to you and yours.
If you'd like to comment on this week's email, visit our blog or email us, tomato@thethreetomatoes.com.
'til next week,
The Three Tomatoes
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