BLACKSBURG, Va. – Turning 90 years old is something many of us hope we can get to, and Wednesday at Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, they celebrated almost 50 people who have reached that milestone.
“We’re going to be celebrating 51 people here who are over 90 years of age, and that in itself is an unusual kind of celebration,” said Tom Jannuzi, a Warm Hearth Village resident and 90-year-old man.
Being 90 years old is an age many don’t see, and that’s why Warm Hearth Village celebrated their residents that are 90 to 99 years old.
At the event, there were around 50 seniors there, and I got to talk to them about life.
“When I turned 40, I thought I was an old guy,” said Allen Warren. “I feel younger now.”
They told me there is no key to living as long as they have.
“It’s luck,” said Debbie Warren.
“A lot of it’s luck, but taking care of yourself is important,” said Allen Warren, Debbie’s husband of 67 years.
I also talked to resident Tom Jannuzi who is about to have his 91st birthday, and he said the way to enjoy your life is to meet as many people as possible.
“When you expand your own perspective on other people, it enriches you,” Jannuzi said.
He told me with D-Day recently passing, he remembers being at home as the United States entered the war.
“I was in other words a 10-year-old when we invaded the Nazis in France,” said Jannuzi. “I remember it vividly because my uncle was one of the officers landing a craft in the midst of the struggle.”
For everyone there, they all told me each year seems to go by faster than the last.