On January 20, 1896, Nathan Birnbaum was born destined to become George Burns, one of this Nation's greatest comedic performers and a centenarian. Why did he reach his destiny and others did not? No one can say for sure. But he did have three good things going for him: he had a great set of genes; a great sense of humor; and a great capacity to never give up working, never give up loving, and never say never. While many of us may not be as lucky as the late Mr. Burns was in the "good genes" department, we can, nevertheless, learn from him and develop a good sense of humor and never say never. And while our lives might not be as long as his, they can be as rich and rewarding.

Speaking of long lives, Mr. Burns, joined some 56,000 Americans 100+ years of age, the fastest growing age group in this country. In 1980, when Willard Scott of NBC TV started recognizing 100th birthdays, there was just a trickle of letters weekly; now he receives over 400 per week. Notwithstanding how remarkable becoming 100 years is and how many we have now, if demographers' projections are anywhere near accurate, by the middle of the next century when many of our children and grandchildren will be living, there may be as many as 2.5 million centenarians! If that astounds you, say "wow," because that is an astounding prospect to ponder: Who will take care of them? Who will train their care givers? Why are our national policies so uncertain regarding this issue facing today's 33,000,000 older Americans and tomorrow's 76,000,000 aging baby boomers?

Well, those are questions for another time. For now we celebrate George Burns' 100th year of life and salute him for all the good times he gave us. We also thank him for so ably demonstrating how older people improve the quality of our lives.

On a note of levity that Mr. Burns would appreciate is the story recounted by Gene Cohen, M.D., of George Washington University, who told us recently that he had done a public service TV spot with George Burns a year or so ago: When Dr. Cohen asked the great comedian, holding his ever-present cigar, what his doctor said about his smoking, Mr. Burns' retort was "my doctor is dead!" Alas, in a physical sense, Mr. Burns is dead too, but his contributions live on in our memories. What wonderful memories!

*Photo from Houston Chronicle, page 1D, Jan. 18, 1996: "100 Facts about Centenarian George Burns" by Andy Edelstein of Newsday.

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