Vinegar, cold water, and Epsom Salts. My mother was a great believer in simple solutions to what ails you. Poison ivy? Wrap it in a cloth soaked in vinegar. Cut or puncture wound? Soak it in Epsom Salts. Burned on a hot pan? Hold it under cold water.

It took a lot to get Mom to a doctor. She just didn’t think a doctor could do that much for most things. And why pay good money for what you could fix yourself?

Another of her simple approaches was walking.  After she and Dad left the farm and moved to town, she took up walking. With a vengeance. She walked at least three miles every day. And she walked so fast I was often out of breath trying to keep up. She walked for weight control. She walked to see what was going on around town. She walked to pick up cans.

Only after she broke her hip and macular degeneration limited her sight did she give up walking – outside. Then she continued to walk in the house. She set up a route in the basement – around the pool table, past the furnace, to the toilet and back again. Again and again. Every day. She lived to a healthy 91.

Science is proving Mom right. A recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Assn. showed that walking speeds serve as a predictor of longevity. The faster you walk, the study shows, the longer you live.

Mom had strong opinions and she seldom hesitated to share them. My husband and I laugh that Mom was often wrong but never in doubt.

She’d be tickled to know she was right about this one. Simple solutions are often the best. You go Mom!