Atria resident, 100, recounts life lessons

“I’m a very peaceful person because I don’t like to argue with people or have confrontation and I like to be nice to people,” said Marie Machauer, an Atria Lynbrook Nursing Home resident who celebrated her 100th birthday on Oct. 4. “People can be not nice sometimes, so I’ve learned to watch people and I like to help people.”

Throughout her 100 years of life, Machauer said she learned a lot of lessons from her experiences in relationships with other people. She learned to watch people to see what their personalities are like and if she doesn’t like the things that they do, she learned to confront them in a respectable way to change their behavior. If the person refuses to change their ways, after she nicely asked them to change, she said she learned how to distance herself from them. One of the ways that she learned to live her life over the years is by being nice to people even when they have not shown her kindness.

“Kill them with kindness but walk away when you have to” she said. “You can’t go overboard with helping others, but you should always try your best to be nice.”

Machauer said she has learned a lot over the last century, and noted that she has been very blessed.

“I can’t complain,” she said, “I had a good life.”

Machauer said that a difficulty in growing older is that she cannot see her family as often, including around the holidays.

Machauer said she misses her mother and husband, both of whom she has outlived. Her husband of 75 years, Tim Machauer, used to write her letters frequently. The two of them traveled to many places in the world, which she said she enjoyed, but she noted that one destination they never got to see together was Italy.

Machauer is currently the oldest person left in her family and she attributes her longevity to drinking wine and scotch once in a while, having her vitamins, getting a good night’s sleep, and being kind and helpful to others.

Although she complained at first about having to stay in a nursing home, she has grown to love her life there and has been staying there for about two years — a span in which she has touched the lives of many of the employees and other elderly people living in the nursing home.

“Most people look at 100 year olds and think that they are frail and can’t do anything, but Marie is so vibrant and agile and she puts a face on longevity that you don’t normally see,” said Dianna Viglietta, an employee at Atria. “My parents died young, so I look at Marie as a mother … Marie has brought joy and happiness to me and always makes me smile.”

“Marie taught me patience,” added Nathan Schafroth, the engage life director at Atria. “She’s one of the nicest residents here and she always puts a smile on my face.”

Many of the other people living in the nursing home said they also found joy in dealing with Machauer, who taught them lessons.

“Marie helps me to be nice to people and she’s a very lovely person and very helpful to me,” said Nanette Fishman, who also turned 100 recently. “She’s lovely to be with and we laugh a lot and enjoy each other’s company.”

Irv Frank, 84, said Machauer is constantly smiling and saying nice things about everyone there. “She taught me to smile and that everything will always work out,” he said.