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June 26, 2009 Last week, my wife and I took my inlaws to Saltspring Island, British Columbia to attend my stepson's engagement party. My father-in-law is 86 and has numerous serious health issues and spent most of last summer in the hospital. During the last year, my inlaws have moved into a senior's residence that provides them with their meals, medication and any needed nursing care. My mother-in-law has alzheimers and cannot remember most recent events plus has lost most of her interests. This all has been very depressing for my father-in-law. For periods of time last year, he was not expected to live nor frankly had any desire to live. But as I mentioned, here he was flying last week from Hamilton to Calgary to Victoria and then onto a ferry and across to Saltspring Island which is one of the Gulf Islands between mainland Canada and Vancouver Island. So what changed? How could he, with a use of a walker, be travelling across the country? While on the same flight from Hamilton to Calgary, I read a Globe & Mail article entitled, "A Life With Purpose Lasts Longer." The article stated that researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that older adults who have a purpose in life--those who are goal directed and have an overall sense that life is meaningful have a reduced risk of dying earlier. In a study of over 1200 people 55 years of age older with a high sense of meaning and motivation in up to a six year period were half as likely to die as compared to those without purpose. To me, this scientifically demonstrated why my father-in-law was able to be on this flight. He was thrilled about going to see his grandson who had moved to Saltspring Island four years earlier. This trip was planned for some time after obtaining medical clearance from his doctors. He clearly was motivated and had purpose in taking this trip. What has this do with smoking? Not a lot, but it seems to me that I have heard that your chances of living are significantly reduced if you smoke. Using my logic, if you are a smoker with a very clear sense of purpose, you will live the same length of time as a non-smoker without purpose. Additionally, I do enjoy the occasional cigar; the next time I see my doctor, I can tell him that I am a purposeful cigar smoker and maybe he won't ask me to quit! BTW - my father-in-law thoroughly enjoyed his trip and my inlaws returned home safely with us earlier this week. My stepson is getting married in two years and we are hopeful that this will contribute toward my father-in-law continuing to have purpose.
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