Can we even begin to imagine the changes--technological, sociological, economic, etc.--they've lived through and experienced?
Almost certainly were borne at home to mothers for whom anesthesia was a generation or more in the future and who had probably lost a child previously during birth. Probably grew up with horses as the primary means of transportation, possibly in homes without electricity and running water (my relatives of similar ages certainly did), trod on wooden sidewalks beneath gas-lamps (assuming they lived in cities or relatively urbanized areas), witnessed the birth of mass-communications (radio! telephones!! movies!!! talking movies!!!! sound-recording!), flight, the advent of modern medicine and antibiotics. All before they even reached middle-age!
And this is to say nothing of the devastation of the wars and economic crises they lived through and, of course, the personal happiness & successes and disappointments & losses that time brings to us all.
And look at 'em, they're all women! Little old ladies, at that! Hmmm, gets you thinkin', doesn't it? :study:
(I did read an interview recently with one of them--I'm pretty sure it was Akiko--who was upset that all of her Hotfile links had recently been deleted. Speaking to her daughter, who translated her remarks, she said that, at her age, she should have been treated more respectfully, adding "I'm too old for this shit!". Her daughter later offered an apology for the outburst and explained that Akiko had eaten "a large amount" of the 6-pound, 9-ounce birthday cake and that "the sugar gets her a little weird sometimes".)
