The 102-year-old doctor shares the most valuable insights of his life: “If you always look back, your neck gets stiff.”

Do you really ride your bike every day?
Gladys McGarey: Not every day, it’s too hot outside for me right now, still almost forty degrees. Last year, for my 102nd birthday, I wanted a tricycle. And at one point I walked 3,800 steps at home with my daughter. As the weather gets cooler, I will go out more. Movement is important, there is no life without movement.

How does it feel to be 102 years old?
It’s like asking a kindergarten teacher what it feels like to be six years old. It just is what it is.

Everyone wants to live long, but not grow old.
Being old is a wonderful thing. The world is such an exciting and amazing place. My eyesight has gotten worse and I can’t read anymore. But everything is still fine inside me. There is so much joy and richness within me that goes much deeper than anything I can read or see. Actually, I don’t feel much different than before.

Are you mentally and physically fit, is this destiny or can you contribute to this yourself?
Genetics definitely play a role. But the most important thing is to have meaning in life. This gives you juice. If you always look back, your neck becomes stiff. And we all need love and light, together they are the greatest healing power.

Love heals, isn’t that a bit of a bold statement for a doctor?
I know what you mean. My ideas have always been bold and different. As a young woman while I was studying medicine, my dean sent me to a psychiatrist because he thought I was crazy. We were 50 women studying in Philadelphia at the time. And they made our job so difficult, only five of us finished.

Why did you want to become a doctor?
I knew this from a young age. I accompanied my parents when they went to jungle villages in India. They were working as doctors and had no modern equipment; There were only basic needs. But wonderful things still happened because my family treated people with love and care. And they made every individual feel that they are important and valuable for this world. That’s when I realized that doing something with love makes a big difference.

You also met Gandhi as a child!
I was ten years old then. We were returning to the US and I was very sad because I didn’t want to leave India. When the train stopped at the station, a large crowd formed, which is not unusual in India. But this was so special, everyone sang ‘Ghandi ji’ and flocked to this little man who was only wearing a scarf. My face was pressed against the window when he suddenly looked at me and looked directly into my eyes. That’s when I realized in my heart what true love is.

There were blows of fate in your life, too: you were diagnosed with cancer twice, and your husband left you for someone else.
It can not be helped. We all suffer, we all get sick and we all get frustrated. The things that mean everything to us in life fall apart. After everything we’ve built together, it was a shock that my husband of 46 years wanted a divorce.

You were in your 70s at the time, how did you overcome that?
I remember driving home and how angry I was. I cried like a jackal, howled, and was miserable. The idea of ​​coming to an empty house alone was awful, everything was ruined. I stood on the side of the road and a Bible verse from my childhood ran through my mind: ‘This is the day that the Lord has made. Let’s be joyful and happy.” So I went home and had a new car sign made: “Be glad.” I saw the sign every day, and so did the car behind me. (Laughs). From then on things took off.

Have you forgiven your husband?
When I got over it, I wrote him a thank you letter. From then on, I went my own way and continued to practice with my daughter. Before, I was dependent on my husband for work.

Don’t you want to fall in love again?
No, why would I? I’ve already raised four sons, why another? I have a job that I absolutely love, it’s a privilege.

Not everyone has a job as meaningful as yours. How do you find your purpose in life with a regular job?
Imagine life as a little seed. All the energy of the universe can be held there, but without water and light it cannot break its shell and bloom. Life needs love to grow in everything you do. Laughter without love is cruel. Working without love is drudgery. Listening without love is empty. That’s why it’s so important that a baby is surrounded by love from the moment he takes his first breath.

How many babies did you give birth to?
I can’t count anymore but it was a miracle every time.

You are considered the pioneer of natural birth, what was different in the past?
In the 1940s, when I was studying medicine, women were anesthetized and put into twilight sleep during childbirth. This is how I gave birth to my first two children. I was completely relieved and didn’t know I had a son until 24 hours later. As a mother, you were outside the process.

This is no longer the case today.
Yes, fortunately. People didn’t know any better back then. The accepted concept in the medical community is the elimination of pain. I believe pain has meaning. If we suppress it, we miss something important. Since the mothers were under anesthesia, they could not push their babies out, so we had to use force to get them out. I was really good at it, and that was the only way I learned it in the first place.

Since then, medicine has modernized.
I studied medicine during World War II. Back then it was all about fighting. My training was also about destroying a hostile force in the body, killing it and prevailing. I had other ideas, and in the 1950s and 1960s I began to meet the early pioneers of Western medicine who shared my views.

You are among the first female doctors to work with acupuncture.
Yes, and they laughed at us because it was against all science. Today, holistic medicine has gained credibility because we understand that the patient is a whole person, not just a body. Science not only provides answers, it also asks questions.

You were friends with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss pioneer on death and grief. What did you shop about?
We were often together on the podiums, I talked about birth, which is the door to life. And he told us how to leave this world again. We complemented each other wonderfully.

Death can knock on your door at any moment, how do you deal with it?
Recognizing that every day on earth is precious. It’s always about this exact moment, being alive right now. I’m looking forward to my 103rd birthday at the end of November.