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| Who Are You? |
| Hundreds of people responded to our reader survey. |
| Adventures of a Middle-Aged Editor |
| GH Editor Michael Egan gets to the bottom of things in Waikiki. |
| Valentines for All |
| If you could send Dick Cheney, Hillary Clinton and your favorite cat lover a Valentine, what would you say? |
| Chocolate Isn’t Good for You |
| They’ve been lying to us all these years. How sad! |
| Leslie Wilcox |
| Leslie Wilcox is interviewed by Michael Egan in this month’s cover story. |
| Live in Sin or Do it Agin? |
| Is love really better the second time around? How about the third? |
| Off the Beaten Path |
| Learn about Oahu’s secret beaches and hidden hikes. |
| Heart Check |
| The American Heart Association offers women good advice...and a great new service. |
DEPARTMENT:
Still living life to fullest
at age 92
By Lea Sargent
Lea
Sargent of Honolulu turned 92 on Nov. 29. She moved to the islands
35 years ago. While she has no children or grandchildren, she has
lots of nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.
I decided to turn old age around and have fun with it. So I put my creative mind to work.
How much fun can having a jillion wrinkles be? Easy, hide them with beautiful, colorful flowing scarves. My hair is pretty thin and I don’t like wigs so I wear cute, perky little hats to match my outfits since I am from World War II—the era when we had to match everything.
I am often stopped on the street by many people, even young men, who will politely say, ‘you are a foxy lady.’ But, that’s only the beginning of the fun with clothes.
So I decided to take me and my flying scarves out on the town—at age 91-plus. I marched into one of the restaurants in Waikiki where I was greeted by a handsome young host. When I told him I was celebrating going on 92, he gave me a nice table and lots of hugs.
He’s a hugger kind of guy and I love huggers. My late husband, who died 50 years ago, was an adorable hugger. The host made me feel so welcome. Then a couple of cute servers came to my table. One young 24 year-old had served me a month before and since I know everyone has a problem I said to the boy, ‘I’m the Dear Abby of Hawaii do you have a problem?’ He said, ‘I sure do, my girlfriend and I are splitting.’
So I gave him some good advice, apparently, because he brought back another server to meet me. Now my table is surrounded by all these adorables making me look like a celebrity. Every time I go there now all the servers come to my table for some Dear Abby advice on their love life, which is my specialty.
Finally Cinderella has to take herself and her scarves and go home
by TheBus until her next visit.
Then I do my afternoon routine, which is body-surfing in the ocean
in front of the Halekulani Hotel. This is my ritual every day around
4 p.m. to avoid the High Noon heat. I’ve been going to Gray’s
Beach for 34 years—never miss a day, rain or shine. And I’ve
met tourists from all over the world. Some of them come the same time
every year and we’ve become good friends.
The waves can be pretty rough in June, July and August—sometimes I get tossed about like being in a washing machine. But that doesn’t stop me.
When people ask what my secret is, I say, ‘You are what you eat, drink and think. So eat all natural; drink just water and natural juices and never entertain a negative thought.’
In the end, I believe in living life. I won’t settle for just breathing or existing. How about you?