Life’s challenges continue in old age

Many years ago, an elderly lady called me to see if I could give her some guidance with a health problem that her husband was experiencing. She commented to me in some frustration, “‘Golden years,’ my butt.”

Many of us senior citizens are indeed up to our butts with health and wealth miseries. To me, old age is a continuation of life’s challenges.

As an octogenarian, I view each God-given day as a bonus. I like to annihilate some of every day’s life challenges before they annihilate me. I face each day with an upbeat attitude and cannot find enough time in a day to accomplish everything on my to-do list.

My four hobbies, photography, gardening, inventing and writing are my time consumers. I try to be the best I can at each of them.

Photography is a 62-year adventure, Gardening a lifelong endeavor, inventing a 60-year uphill battle and writing a late-blooming hobby of only 20 years.

Start a hobby

It is never too late to start any hobby. Since I began my writing career at age 65, my book, “Rag Man, Rag Man” was published in 2004, when I was 80. I have written over 200 columns that have appeared monthly in The Vindicator over 17 years and never seem to run out of topics.

Yet, writing was never one of my favorite subjects.

For me, a positive mental attitude has always been uppermost in my mind. I always believed I could do something, no matter what the odds.

I feel I have gained a lot of fame, especially as a member of two of Ohio’s halls of fame. I was induced into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 2004. I am honored to be one of only five members of both those halls of fame. The others are Paul Brown, Bob Feller, John Glenn and Woody Hayes. Coincidentally, we are all U.S. Navy veterans of World War II.

I like to say I have a lot of fame, but no fortune — not yet. In building a fortune, time is becoming of the essence.

X Michael J. Lacivita is a retiree who lives in Youngstown.