Though always touching, longevity-secret stories can be a little tired. When asked how they led such long lives, some centenarians bring up their healthy lifestyles, others half-jokingly claim that their daily consumption of scotch on the rocks and bacon is what has enabled them to hit triple digits. There is, however, one tip that’s popping up with increasing frequency that I can get behind: never getting married.
The latest recognized devotee of this lifestyle is Louise Jean Signore, who just hit the sprightly age of 107. On July 31, New York City media outlets stopped by Co-Op City in the Bronx to attend her celebratory lunch, where she seemed little annoyed that she had to celebrate yet another birthday, but was nevertheless in good spirits. And when CBS 13 asked her divulge her longevity secret, she seemed more than happy to let us in on it: She stayed single.
“I think the secret of 107,” she said without any pause at all, “I never got married.”
Signore isn’t the first woman to adhere to the no-marriage lifestyle: In 2016, Emma Morano, who was then the world’s oldest person at 117, told the Independent that she swore off men after leaving her abusive husband in 1938. And Gladys Gough, a British woman who made it to 104, told the Daily Mail in 2011 that she didn’t just shun the idea of having a husband — she never even bothered with boyfriends.
Following Signore’s first wise suggestion, she did go on to dispense more longevity advice that falls somewhat in the same vein as centenarians who brag about their bacon habits, telling the reporter, “Italian food is very good for you.” Together, though, Signore’s tips have me convinced that no one’s time on Earth ever has or ever could compare to hers. Dedicating your life to your pasta habit and never worrying about falling in love or whatever sounds like a hell of a life.
