29th December, 2012 (Murat)
No kidding. Dianne & Wayne’s hospitality did not end with sharing their home with us. They actually insisted on us having breakfast in bed. Wow!
Breakfast in bed
Sometime around eight thirty or nine in the morning we heard a knock at our bedroom door. It was Dianne and Wayne bringing two trays of promised breakfast goodies. With a wide smile on their face she was thrilled to be of assistance to her guests. Extra dark whole grain bread, almond butter, and our favorite bacon, egg and vegetable scrambles smelled fantastic. It was a real treat. Breakfast in bed… last time I had it that was… I actually do not remember. Even my parents did not pamper me that much.
Meeting Sharon
Around ten we were supposed to meet Murat at his home. We were very curious. We knew Murat only from his books and some e-mail exchanges with his assistant, Sharon. From Wayne and Dianne home we drove a few hundred meters to a blue-colored house in an adjacent street. A short jolly woman with large glasses sitting on her nose opened the door. It was Sharon.
And here is Murat
Hug, hug and she led us along the narrow corridor towards a room that looked like a library. As we were to enter it an older man stepped in our way. It was Murat. He extended his greeting hand. From the excitement I grabbed it and squeezed it with enthusiasm. For those who are not aware my “excited” grip is quite fierce. Some actually avoid it due to the possibility of crushed fingers. I click close to 90 lb on a grip strength tester, which according to charts should be read from “male” columns. Female “strong” column for my age ends at 70 lb.
You can let go… I get the point!
Murat looked directly into my eyes, smirked and reciprocated with even more crushing hand shake. I got the point. This 97-year young man was nowhere near giving up.
He stood tall, was perfectly groomed and his mannerism was elegant. His voice was clear and speech coherent. What a treat! He was a perfect example of how good self-care habits lead to good health and longevity.
He seemed to be physically and mentally better off than a majority of 70-year olds in North America. I wish that North America would take notice: health and longevity is the incrementally cumulative effect of our lifestyle habits. The rewards one gets are proportional to life-long input: little input – little rewards; high input – substantial rewards.
Besides, he was not that old
We sat down at the table and Murat started sharing with us his cultural pearls, political opinions, as well as some details of his life. He kept on talking for the next four hours without his voice giving up or him losing track of topics. But why should it? According to Abkhazian statistics he was still not that old.
To be continued…
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