What Does it Take to Be a Cool Octogenarian?

Betty (my mother, on left) and her friend Constance are 85 and 83 years old respectively. Here they are having ladies' lunch in Manhattan.

Once on the street, they could barely keep away the paparazzi. Snap! Snap! Snap!

                                                                                    Photo: Pamela Kogen

Betty and Constance are gorgeous and generous women. What make these special octogenarians so cool?

1. They are open-minded. 

2. They take care of themselves.

3. They LOVE to have fun.

4. They are full of adventure and would do (practically) anything at the drop of a hat.

5. Actually, if they dropped their hats they probably wouldn't pick them up and wear them. "It will mess up my hair," is a comma mantra amongst some female elders. 

6. They like to smile.

7. They wear go-to-hell sunglasses.

8. The big pearl earrings . . . twins!

9. They talk about the importance of friendship and family ... and they live it.

10. They inspire others.

Betty and Constance are two of a kind. They grace the world wherever they go.