The Oldest Living Boomer

                               Old Boomer (but not Kathy)

The Philadelphia Daily News (“Our motto: We aren’t the Inquirer and you’ve never heard of us but we are still here, just in case anyone is reading”) reported last November that Baby Boomer Number One is Happy and Healthy As She Nears 65.  This might not have been hot news when it was initially reported, but now that Frank Buckles, the last surviving World War I vet has passed on to the Great Battlefield in the Sky, this oldest documented Boomer takes on a whole new interest. 

Kathy Casey-Kirschling, the object of all this attention, was born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946 in a now-demolished Philadelphia hospital.  The Daily News reports that (in spite of her advanced age), she is doing pretty well these days. “The retired teacher, who with her husband Patrick now spends part of the year at a second home in Florida, so far has avoided the heart disease that runs in her family. She walks two to four miles daily, eats fresh fruit and whole grains, and takes prescription drugs to control her cholesterol. A mother of two, she’s now got six grandchildren and says she’s enjoying life all the more.” 

Clearly the world wants more from Kathy.  Like the secret to her longevity.  The Daily News provides it:  “‘There’s so much anxiety and cynicism, and that can do people in,” Kathy says. ‘I migrate toward the positive. That’s something I can control.’”

 Boomers the world over will now be tracking Kathy, and rooting her on, as she makes that march toward senility a glorious golden age.  After all, we have a stake in her. She is our Boomer Pioneer. She paves the way for each of us (Let’s hear it for whole grains and meds!).  Kathy may be the standard bearer, but we are lined up right behind her.  (Some of us tried to sneak out of the line, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere else to go except to a Justin Bieber concert.) 

Young, non-Boomers can root Kathy on as well, mostly because they are grateful that no one is following them around, counting their birthdays and taking notes on everything they do.

 So, if you see Kathy in Florida on one of her daily walks, eating a banana and looking positive, give her the high five.  Then go to Denny’s for the Early Bird Special.