A long life less ordinary

Newport Beach resident Monaca Green had a birthday party on

Wednesday, but this wasn’t any old birthday celebration -- she turned

100.

Green’s parents came to America as immigrants, and she grew up in

New York when it wasn’t as bustling a metropolis as it is now. She is

very stylish and has a painting of Marilyn Monroe in her room. She

enjoys playing Scrabble and speaking with former New Yorkers, like

the Daily Pilot’s Doug Zimmerman. She enjoyed her time in New York,

but loves being out in Southern California.

The centenarian sat down with the Pilot’s Luis Pena this week and

talked about her life.

To what do you owe to your longevity?

The answer is hard drinking and smoking. You’re laughing. You

didn’t expect that?

Where did you grow up, and what kind of place was it?

I was born in New York City, and I’m very happy that I was. When I

hear people say that they’re annoyed, it’s too busy, and so forth,

I’ll say, ‘You don’t really know it.’ It wasn’t as bustling then as

now, but it was home, and we liked it. You had everything there --

all the finest theaters. When I was older, you had art shows,

museums, best schools. I went to city college. It was for poor

people; there was no charge. I got a job as a bookkeeper, then I

later was employed by investment firms. And I stayed with that. I

liked figures.

What kind of childhood did you have?

My parents were immigrants, and to them America was just a place

to be realized. The first thing my parents did individually before

they married was they learned to speak and write English. My father

came from Russia, and my mother from Austria-Hungary. We weren’t

wealthy, but my father had a great idea that [for] his girls, nothing

was too good for them on their birthday. He’d go out, buy one large

orange for her birthday rather than get a dozen little ones. Or a big

apple. If I had money, I’d buy the biggest something else. So, we

always treasured that. We went to museums a great deal. They were

free of charge. We were very poor. A birthday never went by without

having a beautiful birthday party and cakes and so forth. [My mom]

had a cousin who was a seamstress, and so the seamstress made dresses

for us, and in return, my mother made cakes for the seamstress. It

worked out well. I had some pretty dresses that she made.

How did you end up in Newport-Mesa?

My daughter came to California for special reasons. Her husband

died, and they had a baby of 10 months old. And my husband and I took

care of the baby, and then my daughter came to California to live.

And then my husband died, so I came out to California to be with my

daughter, and I never went back, probably 30 years ago.

What are your greatest accomplishments in life?

I’m proud of my daughter. She is a registered nurse. Well, when

you have children, you’ll know that you’re proud of them, that they

don’t have to be anything special. They’re your children, and they do

well, and they’re good students, and they’ve done some good deeds, so

you’re proud of children.

If you could re-do one moment or incident in your life, what would

it be?

I wish I could re-do my relationships with my family. I would have

treated them better than I did and so forth. I have a guilt complex.

One of my sisters had no children, and my daughter had her children,

had grandchildren and so forth. And I never made a to-do about

sending pictures to her.

What profession other than yours would you like to have tried?

I would have liked to have been a marvelous musician and played at

Carnegie Hall. I would have liked that. We had a piano, but I didn’t

have much talent. My other sisters did. We lived in a tall house that

was rather narrow. The piano could not be carried through the halls,

so it was pulled up on ropes outside the window. We were the first

family with a piano.

What’s the greatest lesson you learned in your life?

It’s a big answer. The family lived out of town, the sisters. Two

of them had no other children, and I really should have shared my

grandchildren with them. I really regret that. Be good to your family

and cherish them.

What do you treasure most?

I thought I would cherish my money, and I was lucky, and I really

did save enough, and now I can’t use it, and now I can’t spend it.

So, spending money wisely when you can enjoy it, and travel.

How did the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the ensuing Depression

affect you?

We got married during the Depression, and my husband was an

architect, and he lost his job immediately, but I worked, so I

supported him. That was a sad time in my life because we had just

gotten married and every Saturday we’d go down and have lunch. At 5th

Avenue, there was a shop where they would set up rooms of furniture,

and to me, this was so elegant, and I’d love to see every month or

so. It was changed, and I’d go down and I would pick out a thing or

two and say, ‘I’d like this,’ and so forth, and probably buy it

elsewhere. We married during the Depression years, which was a stupid

thing to do. He lost his job, and I had to carry on, but I never

minded it. He later built a very beautiful house for it. It was in

the suburbs in the Rockaways. You can’t help it. There were so many

people who were homeless. It was a very bad time. There were

businesspeople selling apples on the corners. That was true. That was

not an exaggeration.

How did World War II affect you?

My husband was very patriotic. He joined the army. We had a child

then, but he said, do I mind if he goes, and I knew that he wanted

to, so he went, then the war was over in a short time. And I recall

he didn’t stay overseas. He stayed at a very posh hotel in the

southern states. And they treated them so well. He said he had eight

steaks that were 3 inches thick, and he felt guilty that he ate it

knowing that we couldn’t buy meat here.

Do you have any advice on relationships?

A girl that likes you doesn’t look at how much money you have.

It’s the personality and the work you do. You don’t have to look for

wealth. It will come later. If there is love in the family, that’s

worth all the wealth.

What would you like people to always remember about you?

I’d like to feel basically that I was a good person. I never

harmed anyone, I never cheated anyone, and I helped friends where I

could.