We celebrated my friend's 100th birthday this month. I met her years ago when she was in her late 80's and I was younger than her youngest daughter. Despite the age difference we bonded immediately. I became her best friend, confidant and liaison to a younger world. She and I talked about fashion, hair, make-up and about serious matters. She told me about her children, her husband and her life. Sometimes we cried together but mostly I made her laugh. I had a feeling that some of the stories she shared with me was not shared with anyone else. After my bout with cancer I asked her if she had had a mammogram done. She told me she was too old for that. After one week of hounding her to see a doctor, she finally relented and went to get a mammography. Her results were not good but it was not too late. She was lucky enough to get diagnosed early. During her ordeal to uplift her spirits I told her that she and I'll dance at her 100th birthday to which she shrugged and said she didn't think so. I dared her and we made a pact that we would dance even if she was in a wheel chair. Since then she has travelled around the world and was on many cruises, shopped, drove her car until her arthritis stopped her. We keep in touch with each other over the phone most of the time. Her major complaint these days is her loss of hearing and she abhors hearing aids. Today she is still sharp as a tack and sweet as an apple pie. At her birthday party we were seated with her physicians and we all agreed that she was a very young 100 and has many more years in her. Oh, by the way I'm happy to report that my dear friend wasn't in a wheel chair at her birthday party and she and I danced amid all her children, grand children and great grandchildren. 
