From the very first moment you meet Kitty Cohen, you can’t believe this vibrant little woman is about to turn 100. But that’s exactly what she will do later this year – she will celebrate her 100th birthday in December.

When you ask Kitty what her secret is, she replies with a twinkle in her eye and a great big smile, “It’s all in our state of mind, our mind says it and we do it.”

Kitty believes we are meant to move every muscle in our body from our eyes to our toes daily if we want to remain agile. Every morning, she gets up, takes the stairs three flights down and goes for a 40-minute walk outside before she has her tea. Then she makes her way over to Temple Sinai for morning services before she starts her day.

When you ask Kitty why she walks every day, another smile lights up her face as she recites a little poem she made up that goes something like this: “Why do I walk, ain’t no mystery, I want a good physical history. Doctor told me walking is great, it helps them blood cells circulate. Great for the lungs, great for the ticker, can’t nothing get ya in better shape quicker.”

Then she giggles, a contagious little giggle, and you can’t help but giggle too.

Don’t let her size fool you. She still has a busy schedule of weekly exercise classes that include yoga, as well as tap, folk, square and line dancing, which she still gets to by bus.

Kitty has been walking in the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers since 2008 and is doing so again next month. She is their oldest participant, and this year, the Weekend to End Woman’s Cancers decided to celebrate Kitty’s upcoming 100th birthday along with their 10th anniversary. She hopes to raise at least $3,000 and is aiming to walk about 10 to 15 kilometres each day of the two-day event.

So go on, get up and move something. If Kitty Cohen can do it, so can you.

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