MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – As we get older those big birthday celebrations sometimes lose their appeal, but not for Esther Sharrow. At 106-years-young, Esther knows a thing or two about a long happy life.
And it’s more than the fact that Esther made it past the centenarian celebration; Esther’s still living the life of a much younger woman.
Jack Hill, Esther’s nephew, says she has her doctor puzzled.
“When you puzzle a doctor, that’s pretty good,” he said.
Born on April 5, 1906, Esther has been treated kindly by the last century.
“She looks, oh, 85. Maybe,” Hill said.
She chalks up her youthful appearance to mixing work with play.
“I played a lot of golf,” Esther said. “I love golf, and I played before women started, when only the boys would play.”
Esther also thinks her energy comes from refusing to sit down, even as the decades wore on.
“I do my own housework, clean my own windows, do my washing,” she said. “As people get older, they sit around too much. I don’t sit. I don’t like to sit.”
She never smoked, had no kids, but she stays close with family, which now consists of a niece and nephew. She’s out lived her 9 brothers and sisters.
“I don’t take medication, for one thing, no prescription drugs,” Esther said.
There’s an old saying that with age comes wisdom. Life has taught Esther to focus on the present rather than the future.
“I work day-to-day and live day-to-day,” Esther said.
Esther said she doesn’t watch a lot of TV, has the occasional scotch and water, and still uses the stairs of her three-story apartment building.
