My Grandmother - who insisted she was going to live until she danced at my wedding - passed away in February, a month and a half before her 100th birthday.

She had stories to tell, and last time I saw her, she told me about the time she grew up. How she used to do the washing (by hand) and how she used to like going to school (on foot, 4km walk) and how amazing the first "talkies" were.
She used to say we had it so easy now -- and she's right. We do. However, she also said some things were much better when she grew up. There was no crime. Everyone knew each other. Everyone helped each other. Families sat around a table to have dinner together. People had better manners and were more mindful of others feelings, more polite.
She told me how WWI wasn't too bad, but that WWII had everyone live in fear of saying the wrong thing. How people you knew just disappeared. How afraid she was when the bombs fell. She said we had no idea what fear for your life really is -- and aside from soldiers today, she's right. We tend to not know that feeling.
She said that seeing the changes happen didn't faze her, the world always changed, old ideas gave way to new ones and usually it was better. She told me her greatest memory was going on a plane for the first time, and see the world from above -- something we take for granted now.
She also said she never felt older than 18, even at her age. She had a hard time getting her head around it that others saw her as an old woman, when really, she wasn't. She said her body might have aged, but her mind had not. That she was still as interested in new things as she'd been as a kid. She said that just because your body ages doesn't mean you're old. Age is in the mind, not the body. If you keep fit there, you'll always be young. :)

Yeah, she was pretty smart. :) I miss her.

Silke