Most folks who live up to 100 are simply happy to reach that age while sitting in their care homes or being cared for by their children and grandchildren. Not Eleanor Cunningham.
The 100-year-old great-great-grandmother, who is lovingly called Nanny by her family, is not content with celebrating her 100th year sitting at home. This daring woman from Howes Cave, New York celebrated her centennial with an adventure, and we don't mean a nice, quiet stroll at the nearby park. We mean a death-defying skydiving expedition at Saratoga Skydiving in Gansevoort -- her third one at that.
On Saturday, Cunningham kissed her seven-month-old great-great-granddaughter and slipped into the red flywear and a pair of sneakers to get ready for the jump. She was taken to the skies with pilot Jason Wood and took the jump with tandem instructor Dean McDonald, who says Cunningham is his oldest jump partner yet. Family members were there to witness their Nanny's third jump and recorded it on their cell phones. A safe landing brought to them a delighted Cunningham grinning from ear to ear.
Cunningham, who lives with her granddaughter in Schoharie County in central New York, took her first skydive in 2004 in celebration of her 90th birthday. Five years later, she took her second jump, outdoing former President George H.W. Bush, who also went skydiving to celebrate his 90 years. Her doctor cleared her for her skydiving expedition, saying that she was "more than capable of doing what she loves."
"It feels good. I feel great now," Cunningham said [video] about her second jump in an interview with CBS-6.
The secret to Cunningham's longevity, she said, is a combination of three things: being a vegetarian, going out on occasional adventures and being around young people. Cunningham has five children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. She is the sole care provider for her great-grandson, Dylan, whom she insisted on taking care of.
"I don't like old people because they tell you all their troubles and illnesses," she joked.
Her granddaughter, Dylan's mother, believes that taking care of the child gives her purpose, and that is key to her health.
"All of us in the family, when we get together for gatherings like this, you know, jumps and holidays, we just look at her in total amazement that this is our grandmother," she said. "This is our Nanny. And she's just doing wonderful."
Asked if she had done one thing that was more exciting than jumping from a plane a few thousand meters in the sky, Cunningham answered:
"My children."
