In this article from The Washington Post, the author interviewed individuals who might be considered “super-agers.” What they found was pretty extraordinary. According to experts, mind-set plays a criticial role in how people age.
Wilhelmina Delco learned to swim at 80. Harold Berman is in his 67th year practicing law. Mildred Walston spent 76 years on the job at a candy company. And brothers Joe and Warren Barger are finding new spots in their respective homes for the gold medals they’ve just earned in track-and-field events at the National Senior Games.
These octogenarians and nonagenarians may not be widely known outside their local communities, but just as with their more famous peers — think Carl Reiner, Betty White, Dr. Ruth (Westheimer) and Tony Bennett — the thread that binds them is not the year on their birth certificate but the way they live.
“Age shouldn’t be a reason to slow down,” said Joe Barger, 91, of Austin.
It never hurts to have longevity in your genes and few chronic health problems, but mind-set plays a role in how people age, experts say. Some older people have been termed “super-agers” for mental acuity despite their years; for them, the typical age-related decline in brain volume is much slower.
