By LouAnn Edwards
There is a famous saying “With age comes wisdom”. Well, in the case of one 103-year-old Eleanor Negleman, you might get the Fox Trot and a Cha Cha thrown in! As soon as I heard about this incredible woman, I knew I had to meet her. My curiosity extended to the family around her as well. What is it like to live with your 103-year-old Mother and Mother-in-Law? To answer that question I visited Deacon Marty Pogioli and his wife Barb (Eleanor’s daughter), who have recently celebrated their fifty-seventh wedding anniversary and have shared their home with Eleanor for the past seven years.
We were greeted warmly in the family kitchen and immediately introduced to the famous centenarian, who wore a mischievous smile. I began by asking about interesting events in her past life. Turns out Eleanor had lived right on Times Square in New York City in the nineteen-forties. Her husband Frank Jr. was a musician in the famous Gordon Trio. She embraced all types of fashion and artistry. Her well-coordinated wardrobe soon garnered the attention of the neighbors who commented that she was always elegantly dressed, even while taking out the garbage! She was the classic Italian mother and, according to Barb, somewhat competitive. “When we played Jacks, she wouldn’t let me win!” she laughed. She loved Clark Gable and watching “I Love Lucy”. Eleanor also loved visits with Barb’s friends, even teaching them how to play “Spin the Bottle”. Barb notes that when she asked her mother if that was the game where you had to tell the truth to a question, her mom replied, “Nope, you have to kiss someone!” She was a meticulous housekeeper, and since living with Barb and Marty, she did everyone’s laundry until last year.
Of course, I was curious about her lifestyle. Was she the “health nut” type? Did she need a lot of medicine, surgeries, doctor visits? Turns out, the answer is “no”. She takes one thyroid pill daily and avoids fried foods due to gall bladder surgery in the past. But they admitted Eleanor is a “sweet-a-holic”. Coffee was taken every morning with three tablespoons of sugar, and she could eat a whole cake in one sitting. You might find Bailey’s Irish Creme in her morning oatmeal. She could plow through a five-pound box of chocolates in record time and once ate three banana splits from Dairy Queen in five hours. So how did she work off all those sweets and stay so fit and healthy? Turns out Eleanor’s secret weapon was dance. She taught and enjoyed every type of ballroom dance into her nineties. Barb and Marty remember her scooting out the door night after night. “She buried three different dance partners…. literally” they recalled as she outlived them one by one.
Along with twirling on the dance floor, she was also jumping on a trampoline in her 80’s, rode in a hot air balloon at age 92, and drove her own car until around the age of 94. She got pneumonia at age 102 and fully recovered, but is now in hospice. As for her Catholic faith, her go-to prayer is the rosary. Of course, I wasn’t surprised to learn that Eleanor had a great sense of humor. Marty recalls one day as she was walking back to her room he teased, “Don’t get lost”. She instantly shot back “You can’t get rid of me that easy!” So how does she do it? “Her secret is a good son in law!” winks Marty. For sure, the love of this beautiful family enabled this extraordinary milestone and serves as an inspiration to us all.
As our visit was coming to an end, I confided that I too loved to dance. As I got up to say goodbye to Eleanor, she firmly grasped my hand and said with smiling eyes “You keep dancing!!”
I certainly intend to keep that promise.
