The author's grandpa and grandma take daily walks.
Courtesy of Kris Ann Valdez
According to my grandpa, his cardiologist calls him his "poster child."He had a quadruple-bypass open heart surgery 25 years ago — a surgery expected to increase his life only by 10 or so years, and he's now the longest-living patient in his cardiologist's office to undergo the procedure. He's still cognitively sharp as a tack and physically strong, as well. In January, my family gathered in a community park to celebrate his 90th birthday — just months earlier, he and my grandma marked 65 years of marriage.Few people make it to 90. Even fewer do it alongside their chosen partner. So I called my grandpa to ask him what he thinks helped him live such a long, full life. In a society inundated with wellness advice, I was struck by how simple his answers were.Start taking care of your health now — it's never too late to startMy grandpa started smoking in his early 20s when he joined the Air Force. Back then, he says, athletes and celebrities all smoked, and "nobody really stressed the point that it was really bad for you physically."But once the research started showing the health consequences, my grandpa quit smoking and never looked back.
