like the Sonny Angel doll<\/a> craze, but the show\u2019s center focuses on the life advice they are eager to pass on to the younger generations.<\/p>\nParticipating in the group has provided a sense of excitement and fulfillment that Johnson struggled to sustain after losing her husband of 55 years in 2021 and having to have her left leg amputated, she told The Post. <\/p>\n
\u201c[My fans] said seeing me here has helped them also because now they know what will happen, they might have to end up in a place like this, but it\u2019ll be alright. The purpose is to keep on living,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Uplifting the elderly community is what originally led Publity, a UK-based social media company, to launch the Old Friend Club, first at a UK nursing home last September, and then in the US after learning a significant bulk of its viewers were American.<\/p>\n
Dozens of seniors at RiverSpring auditioned by submitting tapes to the media company showcasing their personalities, and the cast was eventually whittled down to eight standouts: Johnson, Lita Gottesman, Irma H. Clement, Irv Liebowitz, Sal Gonzalez, Amy Storch, Annita Treacy and Marvin Marcus.<\/p>\n
Gottesman, 88, has made waves with her profanity-laden life motto: \u201cDon\u2019t let the bastards get you down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just a little old Jewish grandma who adores her family, and I\u2019m very happy,\u201d Gottesman, who has lived at RiverSpring for one year, said.<\/p>\n
The Old Friend Club includes, from left to right, Lita Gottesman, age 88, Irma H. Clement, age 105, Marvin Marcus, age 83 ,Annita Treacy, age 74, Amy Storch, age 72, Shirley Johnson, age 85, Sal Gonzalez, age 84 and Irv Liebowitz, age 96. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
Living by her axiom has forced her to cut out many people in her life, but resulted in a strong and supportive circle of friends \u2014 a move she feels inclined to share with younger generations, Gottesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople seem to be affected by what other people say or do about them, and that\u2019s wrong,\u201d she said. \u201cI get every morning and I look in the mirror after and I go, \u2018Oh God, did I get old?\u2019 \u2014 I like myself. And if I like myself, you\u2019re going to like me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other seniors also pop in for guest appearances throughout the social media series.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s so lovely \u2014 and you see it in the comment sections \u2014 people aren\u2019t just learning from these people, and it isn\u2019t just about the incredible wisdom they\u2019ve got, but they also really relate to them,\u201d said Ollie\u00a0Williams, Pubity\u2019s creative director.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a spirit of wholesome belonging,\u201d said Irma H. Clement, seen here dancing with a stranger. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
\u201cThey actually form connections and say, \u2018So-and-so\u2019s answer is exactly what I would have said.\u2019 And what you realize is we really are not far from each other,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe might have a huge gap in terms of age, but not really in terms of how we respond to things and people\u2019s take on the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson gained her own fan following last month when she went viral for correctly matching five celebrities to their romantic partners<\/a> \u2014 despite only being familiar with one of the famous people.<\/p>\nThe social media experience offers a chance for the seniors to impart their wisdom onto younger generations. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
Now known as \u201cThe Matchmaker,\u201d Johnson said that the experience helped remind her that her golden years are meant to be spent having fun and finding community with her fellow seniors.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollow your dreams and life is worth the work you put into it! You will be rewarded,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gottesman added that participating in the Old Friends Club for her was also about pursuing happiness \u2014 and living without regret.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to enjoy it. I don\u2019t want to die saying, \u2018I wish I had,’\u201d said Gottesman, center. Robert Miller<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 88, I want to move forward. I don\u2019t know how much longer I\u2019m going to live,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always looked at birth as the beginning of a disease: you\u2019re born, you die, you know the outcome. It\u2019s how you play the game in the middle. I want to enjoy it. I don\u2019t want to die saying, \u2018I wish I had.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Clement \u2014 the oldest of the club at age 105 \u2014 said her goal for her golden years was to \u201chave fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plus, the experience makes her feel young again, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a spirit of wholesome belonging,\u201d said Clement. \u201cIt\u2019s uplifting, something different, and I think spiritually inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked by The Post what her secret to living to 105 was, Clement kept her cards close to her chest, but instead shared a poem she wrote that she teased might have extended her lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a life fulfilled, one should sparkle like a diamond, shine like a star, show a radiant spirit wherever you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
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