LETTERS: THE QUALITY OF LIVING LONGER

To the editor:

The old reference to three score years and ten is becoming outdated. We hear about plans for life extension. Advances in medical science and improved dietary systems, as well as exercise programs, are changing life expectancy.

The process of aging begins when we are born. It lasts as long as the systolic and diastolic keep functioning properly.

One hears as much about the proper aging of wine as one does about people.

We know that the genetic influence is an important factor in one's life span. Nor is it simply a matter of lifestyle, since some who seem to live rather carelessly seem to live for a much longer time than might be expected, while others who seem to be very careful about lifestyles, including diet and exercise, do not live as long.

My grandfather, who cured his own tobacco and dried it in his own barn, lived to the age of 88. He never seemed concerned with longevity. He never worried or was concerned about Social Security or pension. He liked to fish in the Cape LaCroix Creek. He seldom caught anything worth keeping, but it was a form of relaxation. Unfortunately, he never had an opportunity to catch a big one in any of the Great Lakes of in any of the famous 10,000 lakes in the North.

I understand they found him sleeping on the creek bank. He was content. His life had quality.

IVAN NOTHDURFT

Cape Girardeau