In Memoriam: Miss Sarah L. Delany, Dead at 109
The Huffington Center on Aging
at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas
mourns your death
Is that a misprint, 109 years old? No, this remarkable lady
turned 109 on September 18, 1998, which means she was born in 1889. Think of the span of
U.S. and world history that Miss Delany has personally witnessed, not just read about or
watched footage of old TV coverage -- heck, it was nearly a half century after her birth
before there was even a fledgling TV industry.
At a recent meeting, I met Miss "Sadie"
Delany’s nephew, Harry M. Delany, M.D., Professor of Surgery at Albert Einstein
College of Medicine. Dr. Delany said his aunt was well and that he would download this and
printout a color copy and give it to Miss Delany. So from all of us and from all of your
fellow cybervillagers, especially those centenarians, Happy Birthday.
Miss Delany’s book, On My Own at 107, recounts her
first-person conversation with her soulmate, her late beloved sister Bessie, who died at
age 104 in September 1995. Can you imagine living with someone for over a century and then
losing that person? The lives of these remarkable persons resulted in two bestselling
books and a sold-out Broadway play. And now Miss Sadie’s new book is a poignant
reflection on the wonderful gift of human adaptation to change, to adverse events, to
success, to whatever. On the book’s front flap, Miss Sadie is quoted as saying this:
"I never thought I could live without you, but here I am, like it or not... I’m
charting new ground, Bessie." And on the very last page, Sadie says "Don’t
worry about me, Sister Bessie. Child, I’ve got plans." I think that about says
it all about resolve and determination. And of the many scriptures quoted -- "Planted
in the house of Yahweh, they will flourish in the courts of our God, still bearing fruit
in old age, still remaining fresh and green," Psalm 92:13-14, JB -- that one says it
all about purpose and meaning.
Miss Sadie is among the almost 60,000 living centenarians
in the U.S. today. When Willard Scott of NBC TV first started announcing 100th birthdays
in 1980, he had just a trickle of letters; now, he receives over 400 per week! But wait,
midway in the next century, demographers predict there may be as many as 2.5-4 million
persons 100+ years of age. To our readers, we ask "Will you be one of them? To the
geriatrics community, we ask "Who will take care of these people -- we need 20,000
physicians with special training for today’s older Americans and have fewer that
11,000? The Baby Boomers are turning age 50 at the rate of 10,000 per day and will do so
for the next 10 years. In the year 2030, 1 of every 5 Americans will be 65+ years of age.
So Miss Sadie, we’re counting on you and the members
of your special club to keep showing us the way: you’re still bearing fruit and you
remain fresh and green in our minds. Enjoy this day and many more. And as another notable
American’s theme expresses, "Thanks for the memories."
