‘It’s just amazing to me that I’m still here’: Great-great-grandma, 105, reveals secret to long life
A great-great-grandma from Cinncinati revealed the secrets to a long life as she celebrated her 105th birthday.
Florence “Flo” Hackman welcomed her birthday on Saturday by watching the Bengals-Vikings game and drinking Fireball whiskey.
“I’m so happy I could be around this long — it’s just amazing to me that I’m still here,” Hackman said to Ohio station WPCO.
“You can’t do anything else but just go one day at a time (doing) the best you can do. That’s what I try to do and try to be nice to people and try not to be too crabby. Just live one day at a time.”
Hackman was born in Cincinnati on Dec. 16, 1918, the youngest of nine siblings.
“You’ve seen a lot when you live this long,” she said.
But one thing Hackman always wants to see is the Bengals.
“I wish I could go to the games, but that’s impossible for me. So I do watch them on the television every time they’re on,” the centenarian admitted.
For her birthday celebration, she watched the Bengals defeat the Vikings — alongside members of the Deerfield Township Fire Department.
She was also sure to have a Fireball cocktail, which she and a group of friends enjoy every evening before sitting down to dinner.
Along with her fire-y happy hour, Hackman also exercises on a bike daily.
“I’m so happy I could be around this long; it’s just amazing to me that I’m still here,” she said.
Only 0.27% of Americans were 100 or older in 2021, but the rate of people in the U.S. becoming centenarians has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, according to data from the United Nations.
As more people reach the milestone, researchers at Boston University and Tufts Medical Center analyzed the DNA and lifestyles of seven centenarians to seek the fountain of youth.
Their findings show the proportion of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) in the PBMCs of centenarians decreases compared to younger people, but a significant change in composition also occurs.
The researchers also noted changes in myeloid cells, which originate in bone marrow.
“Centenarians, and their exceptional longevity, provide a ‘blueprint’ for how we might live more productive, healthful lives. We hope to continue to learn everything we can about resilience against disease and the extension of one’s health span,” said senior author George J. Murphy, a Boston University associate professor of medicine.