美国国家公共电台 NPR--When someone turns 100, these volunteers are there to make sure they're honored

When someone turns 100, these volunteers are there to make sure they're honored

Transcript¹

Gloria Helmuth has seen the joy of what it means to turn 100. She's not there herself — she's 82 — but over the years, she's helped pay tribute to hundreds of centenarians. And that has given her unique insight into what it means to actually live to 100.

There are the obvious health challenges, for one. And a lot of the time, it can be downright lonely. Loved ones — like spouses², friends, even children — may have passed years, and sometimes decades, before a person crosses the century mark.

"I just feel that it's important that they know that somebody does care about them," Helmuth says. "And that's the reason for our existence."

Helmuth is the director of an all-volunteer group called the Centenarians of Oklahoma. Their mission is simple: to honor anyone in the state who is 100 years of age or older.

The U.S. has more centenarians overall than any other nation, and thanks to medical advances and changes in lifestyle, it's a growing population. There are about 90,000 centenarians living in the U.S. today, according to the Census³ Bureau, nearly three times as many as there were some 40 years ago. In another 40 years, that number could swell⁴ to nearly 600,000.

In Oklahoma, there are thought to be about 500 people who are 100 or older, according to the Centenarians of Oklahoma. Since its founding in 1991, the group says it has honored more than 2,700 and counting.

"We travel all over the state," says Sue Scott, board chair for the organization and one of the volunteers who conducts its tribute ceremonies. "Our oldest person just passed away last year ... she was 112."

Two others are set to become supercentenarians in the next year — 110 years old. "They have some stories to tell," says Scott.

Honoring the state's "Golden Okies"

A typical tribute ceremony features a short biographical sketch⁵ of each new centenarian, along with some trivia the group has collected after more than 30 years in operation. Scott might point out, for example, that more than 80% of the centenarians they've honored are women, or how the highest percentage of centenarians anywhere is in Japan. Each new inductee gets a certificate and a "Golden Okie" pin.

"We've done it in every situation. We've done it in bars and garages and outside and inside," Scott says. "And during the pandemic we did it through windows — we stood outside and the seniors were inside. Anyway that works."

Scott says she has even been invited to pay tribute to centenarians on their deathbeds.

"I believe they can hear us, because one particular man would squeeze the hand of his son standing⁶ there beside him when I would read certain things about him," says Scott. "I think he was understanding some of it."

There's also an academic side to the group's work. When a centenarian dies, volunteers take the biographical information that they've gathered and send it to the Edmon Low Library at Oklahoma State University for researchers there who study centenarians. The information is also shared with the Oklahoma Historical Society.

The importance of paying tribute

One of the group's newest inductees is Paul Romanello, who was born in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York in 1922 — back when Warren Harding was president.

Talking to Romanello is like going back in time. He can tell you about how as a boy, he'd cook potatoes right in the street of what's now Midtown Manhattan. Or how he says he memorized the eye exam to make it into the Army for World War II. Had he not, he might have missed the USO dance where he met the love of his life.

"She had a passion for dancing," Romanello remembers. "In her dying days, she was still, 'Paul, dance with me. Dance with me.'"

Paula Naylor is one of Romanello's five children. She says the last few years have been tough for her dad. He lost his wife in 2015 after 70 years of marriage. He stayed in their home for a few years, but would eventually move into an assisted living facility. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Naylor says he was pretty much isolated⁷ from the world.

"We noticed that he was quite a bit different from not being able to interact with people, because he was a very sociable⁸ Italian," says Naylor.

But the celebration for his 100th birthday, held last month at a senior living community in Tulsa, gave her father something to look forward to.

"It was good," Romanello says of his celebration. "I thought it was nice."

"When we rolled him into the library and the whole family was there, he was so excited," Naylor says. "He seemed very happy that he was getting all this attention, and he knew he had finally reached 100. And that's what he'd been talking about for months."

Words of wisdom

Helmuth, the Centenarians of Oklahoma director, says stories like that are what it's all about.

"Those are the things that make our day, that make doing this worthwhile to us," says Helmuth. "The few of us that do this are blessed by being able to work with the 100-year-olds."

Over the years, the organization's volunteers have collected words of wisdom from the centenarians about how to live a long, full life.

Some give practical advice, like "eat your vegetables" or "work hard and save money." Others are more philosophical⁹, like "don't worry about what you can't change" or "look for good in everything."

Then there's one of Helmuth's favorites.

"One lady just wrote 'keep on breathing,'" she says with a laugh. "She's got a good sense of humor. She's going to be OK."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

4 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

5 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

9 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。