Fun Couple Doesn’t Focus on Aging

The Joyners, Charlie (84) and Johanna (90), have fun enjoying life, with humor, a positive attitude, and guilt free living.

What are your life passions that have kept you excited about life?

Johanna: “Always a surprise waiting for me tomorrow. I wake up anticipating the day and beautiful things happening….anticipation of what is delightful and coming now.”

Charlie: “ I think, “What’s going to happen today? Who may I see today? It’s a WOW feeling.”

What connections do you think have been most important in your feeling purposeful and vibrant? (relationships, work, travel?) and activities.

Johanna: “Being productive – seeing accomplishments that give me joy. ‘

Charlie: “Relationship and activities – adventures, something new, something fun, something good.”

What contributes most to your health?

Johanna: “Being positive and knowing life is good. I don’t dwell on anything negative. That is a waste of time.”

Charlie: “Each day I think things are working the way they should.”

Comments on attitude and humor – what is your philosophy?

Johanna: “If you can’t find something to laugh about you are not living. Humor is part of the fountain of youth.It is an elixir of life.”

Charlie: “ Attitude and humor is what makes getting up each day worth while.”

Do you think cross-generational activities are important and why?

Johanna: “As a grandmother, mother, I can relate to every age. I can see myself in every age. When I am with kids it brings out the kid in me. I can be that child with them and also guide them because I have walked that road. We are muilti faceted.”

Charlie: “Johanna lives like she is in her 40’s or in her 10’s. I, myself, don’t feel 84 most of the time. We don’t think of age.”

Johanna: “We think of people who they are and how we connect – nothing to do with age. Age is a manmade thing – not a part of our consciousness.”

Charlie: “We can relate to almost any age group and be comfortable with them and non-judgmental.”

What is your advice for young people today in terms of how they look at aging?

Charlie: “Don’t even look at it – the only time you have is now. You’ve got to keep in mind that this moment is all we are in.”

Johanna: “When you start looking at aging, you are looking at a man made concept. Aging is a consciousness. If I want to let myself feel old, I can do that. Or young….. I chose to feel young because I like it there.”

What are advantages of being older?

Charlie: “It’s like a golfer, who wins quite often and enjoys looking back on that and his teammates.”

Johanna: “To look back and smile at how life unfolds in surprising ways – and things that you thought were so important are not even important anymore. I can smile at the things I put so much energy in and laugh about it and know I am who I am because of all of it.”

Do you think that sexual energy is important in being tapped as one ages? If so, why?

Johanna: “Sexual concept is a by-product of love and when you have a lot of love and touching it is a wonderful feeling but not necessary for happiness. “

Charlie: “Being sexual has a lot of importance in certain times of life. When you are in love with someone – really in love with them – you can go by without it and don’t feel like you’ve missed anything.”

What is an example of a normal day for you at this time?

Johanna: “I garden, power saw, can tomatoes, do everything I did 40 years ago. I love driving and going to special places. The adventure of what is around the next corner is what I look forward to.”

Charlie: “We took a train trip all around the U.S., starting in Eugene, Oregon…went to L.A., to San Antonio, New Orleans, Savannah, Ga., onto Washington, D.C., Chicago and an entire circuit of the United States. We were on the train ten days total but would stay in places we had never seen for up to a week. In Savannah we saw dates on tombstones from the 1600’s of people who came across the ocean, the first whites in America. It was magnificent seeing so many new things and having new adventures.”

Johanna: “At our age we have the freedom to be impetuous and to have fun the way we enjoy life. We make choices just to have fun. Two words describe us. We are guilt free.”

Charlie: “That’s a WOW-WOW.”

Johanna: “We really put all our trust in God – as the center of our life.”