Leo Gillick
A hundred years old is an obscene amount of time to live. The world has changed dramatically in that time, leaping from trend to trend and progression to progression. To give us some insight into life as a centurion, Granny Gert has shared some ancient wisdom about life on her 105th birthday.
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What she lived through: 105 years ago, many things were different. Everything was in black and white, people gathered around gramophones to listen to the latest hits, and people of color couldn’t vote. However, there were still many similarities. The ‘Roaring 20s’ were a time of huge technological breakthroughs and an obsession with mass media and consumerism.
Granny Gert has seen more than a century of history unwind before her, and has reflected on them on her 105th birthday.
1. War, War Never Changes
If there is one thing that Canton’s Gertrude Logan has seen a lot of in her 105 years as an American, it is war. In the 240 or so years the US has been a country, it has been at war somewhere for 220 of them. On her 105th birthday, Gert recalled the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Second World War, and more. She’s seen them all.
2. A Life Without Rights
Civil Rights Battle: Being an African American woman, Granny Gert spent a significant amount of her life without basic rights such as voting, freedom of movement, or social support. It wasn’t until the 1965 Voting Rights Act that she was allowed to vote.
The Civil Rights Act of 1965 made an effort to force the end of racial segregation. Before this, the 105-year-old woman would have experienced exclusion and limitation in everything in her day-to-day life.
3. A First Person Perspective
Speaking to WLOS about her mother’s 105th birthday, she said she had been around for many of the country’s presidents. “She has been able to walk down the halls of the White House and look at pictures of events that happened in our country that she was alive for,” she said.
4. Thank God
Granny Gert says she has her god to thank for her long life and health. She attributed it to “her faith in God and her family.” I don’t care about all that. I want to know what her diet and workout regimen are. Stop holding onto your secrets, old lady.
