109-Year-Old Woman Said Secret to Long Life Is Avoiding Men
One of the oldest women in the UK believes the secret to a long life is avoiding MEN.
Celebrating her 109th birthday, Jessie Gallan, who is the oldest woman in Scotland, stunned care workers when they asked for tips on how to live to a ripe old age.
She puts her old age down to avoiding men and also a daily helping of porridge each morning.
Jessie Gallan’s Secret to a Long Life
Gallan was born in 1906 into a family consisting of one brother and five sisters on a farm in Kintore, Scotland. Before leaving home at the age of 13 to work as a milkmaid, she shared a mattress packed with straw with her five sisters and one brother. Before working at a hotel that the Queen and Queen Mother visited while she was there, she assisted in the farm kitchen.
Eventually, Gallan moved into the Crosby House, a senior residential care facility. “Jessie is a nice woman,” Gillian Bennett, one of her support staff at the time, told STV. Sarah Jane, her best friend, is with her here, and they are constantly together. She is a very independent individual who enjoys her music and her fitness class. She is constantly out and about.
Judging by Bennett’s kind words, Gallan sounds like she would also credit being active and staying social to living as long as she did. However, although she died in March 2015, her secret to a long life is unlike any we’ve heard!
She said: “My secret to a long life has been staying away from men. They’re just more trouble than they’re worth.
“In addition, I made sure to exercise frequently, eat a warm bowl of porridge every morning, and have never married.”
There is a dietary component to Gallan’s secret, despite the overwhelming AMEN we receive from other women worldwide.
“I enjoy porridge.” I have had it my entire life.
On January 2, Jessie celebrated her birthday at Aberdeen’s Crosby House care facility with lunch and a piece of cake.
Senior support worker Rebecca Streeter said: “Jessie still takes part in the group activities, she likes her exercise.
She adores her church on Sundays and attends all the concerts. She has also clearly maintained a very healthy lifestyle.
Clare Dawson of Glasgow passed away in June 2013 at the age of 109, making Jessie the oldest lady in Scotland.
The oldest living person in the UK is Ethel Lang, 114, from Barnsley.