Right way to get to 99 is thru community involvement

This is in reaction to Dr. Virgilio Ofiana’s High Blood article titled “Growing young while getting old” (Opinion, 9/28/13).

Yes, Virgilio, you will get to your 99 years and maybe more with the way you are thinking and enjoying a healthy lifestyle—food and exercise. But mostly because you are involved in nongovernment organizations and community affairs.

Why can I say this? Because I am 92 going 93 in four months and still enjoying my third childhood because I refuse to grow old. I retired when I was 63 after serving in our public schools for 43 years as elementary and high school teacher and principal. I did not wait for the compulsory retirement age of 65 because my 13 children said my salary of P3,500 a month was not even sufficient to maintain my Mercedes-Benz and my driver, plus gasoline, to bring me to school. Besides, the kids abroad wanted me and their dad to come visit them more often.

But the nice thing was that I got myself involved in NGOs and in my advocacies, for which I have to go and lobby at the city council, House of Representatives and Senate for approval of ordinances and laws for the early detection, care and intervention for children with special needs. Yes, Virgilio, I also do the crosswords of the Inquirer and Philippine Star every day. And I am able to fill the blanks—not always 100 percent but mostly 85 to 90 percent. And I am still the house manager and administrator of our properties in Pangasinan. By the way, help me find a buyer for our 75 hectares in San Fabian fronting Lingayen Gulf.

—CONSUELO D. SISON,

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