Great Grandmother Mary Allen Hardison: 101-Year-Old Woman Breaks Guinness World Record... Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem

Photo:  Guiness World Records – See Video at GWR link as well

In celebration of the official start of spring and life rejuvenated, Guinness World Records is recognizing the endless spirit and youthfulness of 101-year-old great-great grandmother, Mary Allen Hardison from Ogden, Utah, who is now recognized as the 'Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem.'  (She was perhaps inspired by former President George H.W. Bush, but beat him in age.  She broke the 100-year-old female record set two years ago.)

Pushing record breaking to new heights, Mary's incredible feat was achieved as part of her 101st birthday celebration this past September 1^st.  On, as she describes, "a whim to not be outdone by her 75-year-old son Allen," who had recently taken up paragliding as a new outdoor activity, Mary took to the air fearlessly for her first flight.

Cheered on by her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren, Hardison was strapped in by Cloud 9 Paragliding Company representatives and took flight amongst the strong winds. Paragliding instructor Kevin Hintze describes Hardison as "hardcore" as they spun together hundreds of feet in the air.

A self-described rookie to the paragliding sport, Mary's primary hobby is knitting garments for the less fortunate: caps for children's' hospitals, crocheted bandages for leopards in India, and knit caps for premature babies. Her closest experience to anything extreme was riding all the rides at Disneyland at age 90.

Hardison comments, "I feel very humble in setting a new Guinness World Record. My desire is for the elderly to keep on going, do things as long as you are physically able. Be positive. Friends don't like a grumpy person."

Hardison also urges other senior citizens to stay moving and to continue to challenge themselves, even if it means them breaking her current record:

"When a person is busy, the hurts seem to ease up. If you are able and even older than I, then I'm happy for people to attempt to break my record. I promise the experience will be well worth it!"

Also See: Go Granny Go…  These fun activities by seniors come at a time where we are simultaneously seeing both more people living to 100+ and on the flipside watching the fight against the provisions in ObamaCare to ration healthcare for seniors.

There are more Centurions on record alive today than anytime in history and with proper healthcare and continued research discoveries and inventions we should continue to see an increase in numbers as well as the quality of health in those who reach the rip old ages of 100 an above.

Ann Nixon Cooper, center, prepares to cut her cake as she celebrates her 107th birthday

However, we are living at a time that youth instead of the wisdom that comes with age are valued.  We are also living at a time where we often stick our aging parents and grandparents into institutional facilities or ‘old people’s group homes’ instead of taking them into our homes to be part of the core family unit as people have done throughout history, where they can impart their wisdom, perspective and experience to the next generation… or two… or three.

Although the House of Representatives just passed a bill to do away with IPAB, it won’t pass the Senate if it even makes to the floor to be voted on, and many question whether any changes made now (before Election 2012) to ObamaCare won’t just be reversed if ObamaCare is either not declared unconstitutional in full or the individual mandate is not struck down by the SCOTUS and then President Obama is re-elected. The End of Life Provision was removed from ObamaCare in August 2009, but the ObamaCare Mandate Committee is alive and well.  Rationed Healthcare, no matter how you spin it equals death panels for those who do not get the care and procedures they need.  Seniors and special needs children and adults will be the first victims.  Many see the days of Soylent Green in their future.

Related:

March 23rd Second Anniversary of ObamaCare… March 26th a Future Day in American Infamy?

Meet the ObamaCare Mandate Committee

Obamacare rationing panels an ‘immediate danger to seniors’: former AMA president

Obamacare’s Second Anniversary: No Gift for Seniors

IPAB Spells Gloom And Doom For Medicare – On (03.22.12) the House of Representatives voted to repeal key 'Obamacare' provision” IPAB (the CLASS ACT has been nullified)

I was told by a friend whose husband works for one of our major U.S. hospitals that the HR department posts upcoming news on a weekly basis on their bulletin boards throughout the hospital. Late last week a posting went up stating:

PER THE U.S. FED GOV’T, AS OF APRIL 24, 2013 THERE WILL BE NO CHEMO/RADIATION/MEDICATIONS/FOR ALL PERSONS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER AT AGE 76 OR OLDER. SURGICAL PROCEDURES WILL BE DONE ONLY IF THE SURGEONS CAN WITH HIGH CERTAINTY REMOVE IT ALL.

Grandparents (grandmas and grandpas) and the wisdom and experience of seniors were valued in our culture until Progressivism took hold.  Those relationships and the transfer of generational wisdom are still valued in the Asian cultures whose children are number #1 overall in educational retention and the arts.  Connection?  And many of the values and traditions whose loss we question and yearn for could certainly be salvaged and resurrected if our children and grandchildren spent time with older generations. 

In studies, the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents have been shown to be some of the most valuable of their lives. (As they say grandparents and grandkids are so close because they have a common enemy!) Grandparents have time for grandkids, are generally more relaxed than parents and are often fun & funny.  Perhaps it is time to take stock of our lives and weigh societal pressures and directions against common sense?  It has to still exist somewhere deep down?!?  How about setting up a neighborhood homeschooling network run primarily by grandparents since so many mothers work?

One really must question whether we as a society have moved so far down the road that we are truly considering standing still for killing off our elderly relatives and some of our greatest assets?!?  And whether we are so brainwashed that we don’t realize that tomorrow it will be us.

Ask Marion~

Soylent Green Anyone???

Movie (full length): Soylent Green – They Were People

Holland Takes Euthanasia to the Extreme

Stupak: Dems Say Abortions Will Make Health Care Cheaper

In the ObamaCare Bill as outlined by Dr. Stephen E. Frasier, MD in a letter to Indiana Senator Bayh and published in the Indianapolis Star:

Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.

Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!

Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!

Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Gov’t mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)

Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it's mandatory!) – Think Holland

Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; guiding you in death. (Also called 'assisted suicide.') (Sounds like Soylent Green to me.)

Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Gov’t mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Gov’t has a say in how your life ends!)

Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates.

Page 429 Lines 10-12: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans.. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)

Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)

Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Gov’t will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!)

Is anybody ready to apologize to Joe Wilson and Sarah Palin yet?? You will be if this passes!!!

Holland Takes Euthanasia to the Extreme

Holland proposes giving over-70s the right to die if they 'consider their lives complete'

By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE
Last updated at 11:23 AM on 10th March 2010

World first: Holland will consider assisted suicide for over 70s

Assisted suicide for anyone over 70 who has simply had enough of life is being considered in Holland.

Non-doctors would be trained to administer a lethal potion to elderly people who 'consider their lives complete'.

The radical move would be a world first and push the boundaries even further in the country that first legalised euthanasia.

The Dutch parliament is to debate the measure after campaigners for assisted suicide collected 112,500 signatures in a month.

Euthanasia has been available for the terminally ill in Holland since 2002 in cases of 'hopeless and unbearable suffering' certified by two doctors, but this would be a far bigger step.

Supporters say it would offer a dignified way to die for those over 70 who just want to give up living, without having to resort to difficult or unreliable solitary suicide methods.

They might include widows and widowers overwhelmed by grief, those unwilling to face the frailties of extreme old age or people determined to ‘get out while they’re ahead’ and meet death on their own terms.

The assistants who administered the deadly cocktail of sedatives would need to be certified, campaigners said.

More...

• A licence to kill? Assisted suicide case relatives won't be charged if they act out of compassion

And they would have to make sure that patients were not acting on a whim or due to a temporary depression, but from a heartfelt and enduring desire to die.

But critics say there is scope for the elderly to come under untoward pressure from unscrupulous relatives.

Many religious groups oppose any form of suicide on principle.

And the Royal Dutch Medical Association - which played a key role in supporting the nation's euthanasia law - fears patients would use the policy as a way of getting around their own doctors.

Although Switzerland allows assisted suicide in cases where someone is not terminally ill, the Dutch measure would go further.

'Own choosing': Renowned British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died together in the assisted suicide clinic Dignitas in Zurich

In July 2009, British conductor Sir Edward Downes, 85, and his wife Joan, 74, died together at the Dignitas suicide clinic outside Zürich 'under circumstances of their own choosing,' in the words of a family statement.

Sir Edward was not terminally ill, but virtually blind and deaf, while his wife was diagnosed with rapidly developing cancer.

In 2008 former rugby player Daniel James, 23, died at Dignitas. He had been paralysed from the waist down when his spine was dislocated in a training accident.

But Swiss law required Sir Edward and Mr James to hold and drink a lethal draught themselves, while in Holland the dose could be administered by a non-medical assistant.

Marie-Jose Grotenhuis of the Dutch 'Of Free Will' campaign said: 'We've been overwhelmed by the amount of reactions, especially because people took it so seriously and reactions were mostly positive.'

Several European countries allow some assistance to terminally ill people who wish to die. Belgium has followed the Dutch euthanasia model, while Britain and France allow terminally ill people to refuse treatment but stop short of allowing active euthanasia.

Around 2,500 euthanasia cases were reported in the Netherlands in 2009, rising gradually in the past decade as doctors have become more willing to disclose the practice.

Campaigners for the over-70s assisted suicide measure needed 40,000 signatures to force a debate in parliament and will do so after national elections on June 9.

The plan is certain to face resistance and if approved would still need to go through a lengthy process before becoming law.

The legalisation of euthanasia for the terminally ill was preceded by decades of discussion and quiet negotiation that attached stringent conditions and medical supervision.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1256670/Holland-proposes-giving-70s-consider-lives-complete-right-die.html#ixzz0hu6lCgjM

This should be an eye opener for all those pro-ObamaCare people who haven't read the bill or can't read between the lines... Is there really anybody out there that thinks this is okay?? Or that 70 is that old?? Or that healthy people are every useless??

This is what we should be celebrating and shooting for:

2 of oldest people in US die: in NH 114, Mich. 113

Mon Mar 8, 9:34 pm ET

WESTMORELAND, N.H. – Two of the oldest people in the world have died on the same day.

Mary Josephine Ray, who was certified as the oldest person living in the United States, died Sunday at age 114 years, 294 days. She died at a nursing home in Westmoreland but was active until about two weeks before her death, her granddaughter Katherine Ray said.

"She just enjoyed life. She never thought of dying at all," Katherine Ray said. "She was planning for her birthday party."

Ray died just hours before Daisey Bailey, who was 113 years, 342 days, said L. Stephen Coles, a director of the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks and studies old people and certifies those 110 or older, called supercentenarians.

"It's very rare that two of our supercentenarians die on the same day," Coles said.

Bailey, who was born March 30, 1896, died in Detroit, he said. She had suffered from dementia, said her family, which claimed she was born in 1895.

Ray, even with her recent decline, managed an interview with a reporter last week, her granddaughter said.

Ray was the oldest person in the United States and the second-oldest in the world, the Gerontology Research Group said. She also was recorded as the oldest person ever to live in New Hampshire.

The oldest living American is now Neva Morris, of Ames, Iowa, at age 114 years, 216 days. The oldest person in the world is Japan's Kama Chinen at age 114 years, 301 days.

Ray was born May 17, 1895, in Bloomfield, Prince Edward Island, Canada. She moved to the United States at age 3.

She lived for 60 years in Anson, Maine. She lived in Florida, Massachusetts and elsewhere in New Hampshire before she moved to Westmoreland in 2002 to be near her children.

Ray's husband, Walter Ray, died in 1967. Survivors include two sons, eight grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

Morris, the Iowa woman now believed to be the oldest U.S. resident, lives at a care center. Only one of her four children, a son in Sioux City, is still alive.

"She has some hearing deficiencies and a visual deficiency, but mentally she is quite alert and will respond when she feels like it and isn't too tired," said her 90-year-old son-in-law, Tom Wickersham, who lives in the same care center.

Wickersham said he visits his mother-in-law — who plays bingo and enjoys singing "You Are My Sunshine" — nearly every day.

Related:

2/3 of the HC Bill Passed Already! Hidden in the Stimulus Package that No One in Congress Read…

12 Surprising Signs That You Will Live To Be 100

Go Granny Go