Sister Genevieve Kunkel
Howdy.
I met the most amazing person. She’s always been a hero of mine. Remember the famous Nun’s Study that hit the media about 6 years ago? Dr. David Snowdon is the scientist studying Notre Dame nuns, most of whom hit 100 years old and remain in remarkable mental and physical shape. There was one in particular, Sister Genevieve Kunkel, who has been widely quoted by Snowdon and the press. She’s feisty, witty, wise, and radiates enough energy to light up a small city. She’s also 96 yrs old. I just found out she’s in my own backyard, residing at the Villa Assumpta convent associated with their awesome Notre Dame University for women. Once I’d located her, we arrange to meet.
I can’t tell you how cool she is. And how much I learned from her. First, she’s gotta be 80 pounds soaking wet, yet she walks around with a powerful and determined stride. I, like everyone else, wanted to know her secrets to longevity. Was she always in great shape? How’d she manage to keep such an incredible memory--scary, probably better than mine? What did she eat? What about her physical activity? Well, her classic response as been, “I have two good traits. I’m alert, and I’m vertical!” I love it. That’s really our call to arms…and legs…as we approach our own wellness journeys. We want to maintain a mind that’s swingin’ with the program most of our lifetime. Same goes with the body. We want to be the ones who determine when we check out. And preferably, in our own beds. But, as Sister Genevieve stressed repeatedly, you gotta work it. She’s never seen the inside of a gym. She just keeps moving. You need to as well. She burns up the carpet at the convent all day long and has done this for a heck of a long time. She, like most fit people, eats simply every day, sticking to whole foods---she doesn’t know what Pop Tarts are--and she loves to savor her food. Yep, no vacuuming Mount Saint Pasta into her mouth.
When it comes to stress management, she loves to say “If you hope, you cope. If you don’t, you mope.” Amen, Sister! She’s learned to move on after every life experience--good, bad or otherwise--and glean the lesson to build her foundation of wisdom. It’s said that “the older you are, the healthier you’ve been.” I love that! So, I’m taking her to the University of Maryland medical school this month when I keynote one of their bicentennial celebrations. It is, after all, Women’s History month. I can’t wait to hear what she’ll say. What the heck. I’m bringing with me living history.
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Just so you know, the college is called College of Notre Dame of Maryland, not Notre Dame University. People always get us confused, but we are distinctly different since we are an all women's college.
Posted by: Holly | April 07, 2008 at 12:56 PM