Will Being a Republican Cause You to Live a Longer Life?

Robin Lea Laurain
3 min readDec 21, 2020

Meet Republican Sarah Knauss Who Died at Age 119

It has been 47 days, 21 hours, 59 minutes, and 51 seconds since our last election. I made it through four, draining years. To celebrate this feat, I decided to take better care of myself to survive four more years of who knows what!

I was browsing the net to get some hints on how to eat healthier and started to read articles about people who lived to be centurions. Now, I am not sure that is my goal. I just want to be off all my diabetic medication! I ran across this article about a Republican woman who lived to be 119. Her daughter stated that all the woman cared about was her family. This was her focus in life and nothing outside of this, phased her. There is nothing wrong with this, but it got me thinking-is this narrow focus truly what kept this woman living longer? Do Republicans live longer?

Sarah Knauss was the oldest American to live to date. She died on December 30, 1999. She was the last living member of the “Missionary Generation”. She was born, Sarah DeRemer Clark on September 24, 1880 in Hollywood, Pennsylvania. The town no longer exists. In 1901, she moved to Allentown and married Abraham Lincoln Knauss who was a well known Republican in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Knauss was active in the Republican Party and he died in his 80's.

They had a daughter Kathryn who attributed her mother’s longevity to caring about nothing but her family. When her mother died, Kathryn was 96. They are one of the oldest mother and daughter known to be alive at the same time in history. Kathryn stated her Mother was serene and nothing outside of the family phased her.

This got me thinking about how Republicans are operating today. They are thinking mainly about their own family,”The Republican Party”, and what will be most beneficial to them. They have sued to keep Biden from being President, still blame Obama for things that happened on their watch, and have pledged to repeal health reform to mention only a few. Do you think Republicans feel that by caring about their own family’s agenda, (the Republican Party), this will lead them to a longer political life? Mrs. Knauss kept her focus on her family. Is this a Republican trait?

It seems that the “compassionate conservatives” are anything but compassionate, as evidenced by legislation they have tried to enact or block. The party of “ family values” appear to be concerned about only their own family and doing whatever is in their power to bring Biden down. In a time when our Country is in great need, the Republicans continue to turn their backs on the neediest of the family which is the United States of America.

As I examine this narrow minded view, I think to myself that my life would be less stressful if I only cared about my own family and my own political party. Would I too be more serene if all I worried about was the Green Party? I don’t believe I could ever do this. I would rather live a shorter life span than wonder if my narrow minded focus caused injustice to be allowed and to prevail.

The Republican Party needs to come back to the National Family Table and not worry about their own bottom line. The Democrats need to challenge the Republicans and work for the citizens. Both parties seem to care only for their corporate masters as is evidenced by this slap in the face $600.00 stimulus check being tossed at people in dire need.

“Let them eat cake”- Marie Antoinette

References:

Suite 101.com

Forever Young and Healthy.com

Wikipedia

Britannica.com

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Robin Lea Laurain

Retired travel nurse, politician, multi-generational grandmother, Green Party, activist, writer, anti-war, #BDS