Angela Brandt
Havre Daily News
abrandt@havredailynews.com
The secret to long life may very well be carrot juice.
Lucille Bressler, who turned 103 last week, said she owes her longevity to the beverage. She's been drinking it fresh from her juicer for the last 26 years.
“I'll tell you there's nothing like it. I haven't had high blood pressure since then,” Bressler said Thursday. “I don't take any medicines, only eyedrops once a day.
“I feel like a million bucks. ... My body feels like it's perfect,” she added.
Bressler said she went to the doctor “to make sure she still had her wits about her.” The doctor asked her a few questions like the date and what she ate for breakfast. She told him she had carrot juice, and he asked what you would have if you added a little vodka to the juice.
“I said ‘A drink of the gods.' He said ‘Nothing wrong with her - no charge,'” Bressler said. She added that she has never tried the juice spiked.
As her caretaker, Debbie Bodner, poured a glass of carrot juice, Bressler said “Don't you put no foam on it, that goes on beer.”
“I never smoked but I sure drank beer. I started with homebrew, then moved on to commercial brands. All kinds - didn't make any difference - but that was a long, long time ago. I can't even stand the smell of beer now,” she said.
Bressler has lived in Montana all of her life and has spent the last six years living in Havre with her daughter Shirley Isbell.
She worked as a farmer, waitress and telephone operator.
“I wish I was on the farm again. Wish I was in the old time again,” Bressler said. “I miss my mother the most.”
Her father died when Bressler was 3 years old, leaving her mother to care for eight children. Bressler was left in the care of her older sister Mary.
She told her caretaker: “Get me a picture of when I was young and cute.”
She flipped through a scrapbook that included photos of her on the family farm, her parents' wedding picture and a newer picture of her family.
Bressler has four children, 16 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
She said she was an excellent driver.
“I drove for 67 years and was never stopped by a cop,” Bressler said. “I didn't even have a license.”
She said she began driving at age 12 and didn't get a license until she was 60 years old.
Bressler said she has driven all kinds of farm equipment, from threshers to tractors.
Bodner said the 103-year-old still gets around well.
“When I first started working here, I was walking a bit too slow for her and she almost ran me over,” she said. “I call her ‘the road runner.'”
Bressler said another reason for her many years is her laughter and smile.
“I've always been well but I've always had a smile,” she said.
