I recently met an 85-year-old grandmother of 5 (and mother of 3) who has to get her thigh drained every two months because of infection and has a terrible time getting her shirts on because of a torn rotator cuff. Still, Jean goes swimming three days a week, yells back at Jim Cramer on CNBC when she thinks he’s pitching the wrong stock, still goes to the ballet and even manages to have 3 designated date nights each week with her boyfriend. She even reads the New York Times from cover to cover each morning despite her eyes quickly losing steam and having to put the paper down every fifteen minutes.

None of this is easy for Jean. I asked her why she keeps her schedule so packed even though it is so hard and she said, “that’s what I’ve always done and I can’t imagine not doing those things that I love.”  Jean lives by herself (aside from when her boyfriend stays over during the weekends) and she insists that she will never leave her apartment. While she may need a caregiver to help her at the grocery store or one of Engage As You Age’s Activity Specialists to read the paper (and debate about it) to her, we’re pretty sure that she’ll keep on swimming, following stocks and keeping up on current events.