29/12: Yet Another Happy New Year
This woman is 103 years old. Her name is Munya, and she was born in Ukraine in November, 1903. She has survived three revolutions (and at least one attempted coup), two world wars, Stalin's purges (she's Jewish), the economic crisis, food shortages, floods and fevers.
In a country whose health care system is in a parlous state, Munya is a remarkable example of longevity. The average life-expectancy for a Russian man is just 59. Women tend to live longer, as elsewhere, but Munya has probably single-handedly skewed the national average by about 6 years.
There are almost no aged-care facilities in Russia, so most of the elderly live with and are cared for by relatives. Munya lives with her 74-year-old daughter in Sokol, a Moscow suburb, but doesn't get around much anymore due to a fall she had a few years ago. She can walk with the aid of sticks, but it causes her pain. She is almost completely dependent on her daughter, who (in this country) cannot really be regarded as young. Munya’s mind is also not as sharp as it once must have been, but she knows who the important people to her are, and says she misses watching her great-granddaughter exercising in the mornings.
Many people see many things over the course of a long life. Munya lives in a country where a great many more things happened in 103 years than in most other countries. She has endured them, and taken them in her stride. Happy New Year, Munya.
In a country whose health care system is in a parlous state, Munya is a remarkable example of longevity. The average life-expectancy for a Russian man is just 59. Women tend to live longer, as elsewhere, but Munya has probably single-handedly skewed the national average by about 6 years.
There are almost no aged-care facilities in Russia, so most of the elderly live with and are cared for by relatives. Munya lives with her 74-year-old daughter in Sokol, a Moscow suburb, but doesn't get around much anymore due to a fall she had a few years ago. She can walk with the aid of sticks, but it causes her pain. She is almost completely dependent on her daughter, who (in this country) cannot really be regarded as young. Munya’s mind is also not as sharp as it once must have been, but she knows who the important people to her are, and says she misses watching her great-granddaughter exercising in the mornings.
Many people see many things over the course of a long life. Munya lives in a country where a great many more things happened in 103 years than in most other countries. She has endured them, and taken them in her stride. Happy New Year, Munya.
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