World's oldest man reflects on Christmas

World's oldest man reflects on Christmas

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — His eyes twinkled and his laugh was quick.

Walter Breuning was in a good mood Wednesday, contemplating Christmases past and the upcoming new year.

"Christmas is such a nice time of the year," Breuning mused.

He offered a familiar Christmas wish for people.

"By gosh, I wish they'd be more kind to each other," Breuning said.

At 114, Breuning is acknowledged to be the world's oldest man by the Guinness Book of World Records and the Gerontology Research Group. He is also believed to be the third-oldest person in the world, behind two 114-year-old American women.

....

Breuning has mixed emotions about the sometimes lavish gifts people give each other now.

"I like to see people happy," he said. "Sometimes, you wonder why they spend so much money. (But) if they've got the money to do it, let 'em do it."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-26-oldest-man-christmas_N.htm

But then I realized you said man.

More drastic changes than at any other time in human history.

This is the time from which my grandparents were from (1890s). I had a godmother that lived to be 101; died in 1988. This generation was the end of the Victorian age. The Roaring 20s were unspeakable! :rofl:

:kick: & recommend.

down at the end of the street as a speak-easy. That was in the 70's.

:rofl:

She would sit and look out the window and say, "There sure are a lot of machines now." She was referring to automobiles, something which no one in that household ever owned believe it or not (and yes, that same household was still going until 1995 or so). :spray:

They've all passed now. Amazing changes in the course of a lifetime.

she lived in a small retirement home across the street. Wonderful old lady who loved us kids. She died in '99 and was lucid until the day she died. She told us kids wonderful stories about the world pre-WW2.

so well and my aunt sadie who told my mother how it was coming west on the Oregon trail. My grandpa never did understand that jets could truly get off the ground and my grandma dreamed of flying in one. Lovely, lovely people, those two. Charles and Edna Paxton. My heroes.

with people approaching this age (I have a customer who is 96)


OK, so he would have been born in 1896 to be 114 now (rounding to the year since I don't know his exact date of birth)

When Teddy Roosevelt took office in 1901 he was 5

When the Wright brothers first flew in 1903 he was 7

When women gained the right to vote in 1920 he was 24

When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 he was 43 years old

When we first landed on the moon in 1969 he was 73

When Reagan took office in 1981 he was 85


Pick a historical event of the 20th century and think of that person's age at that time. It helps me put things in perspective. Can you imagine being 7 years old and having your father explain to you that a flying machine now exists, or being in your 40s when Hitler was still gaining power. It kinda blows my mind.

Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch had this picture taken:



How bizarre.

What could an 80 year old have told him when he was 10? That is, what second-person stories could he have heard? Someone who met Lincoln? The invention of electricity?
Then, what third person stories? He talked to someone whose Dad or Grandpa met Napoleon, or Jefferson?

I do your exercise too, but this one blows my mind too.

great responses

-especially if it has to do with his childhood and home life at the beginning of the 20th century. His mind is a priceless resource; I hope someone takes advantage of his lucidity (without wearing him out, of course).

Can you imagine if, in 1910, someone who was born in 1796 could recall their childhood and the lifestyle of an ordinary family from the beginning of the 19th century? ...Same thing.