Living History

as told toAubrey Kosa

by Gary Toup

  "I was so sick when they came to me that in one week I fell six times in my apartment. I couldn’t hold anything. Every time I would pick up a cup to try to drink, I would drop it. I was in terrible shape and PACE came to me and changed my entire life. They took everything that was a problem, or everything that I was having a problem doing, and they just took it and said they would handle it. And they did. Everything from equipment needed to doctors to transportation to food to safety equipment, everything. They took it over. I feel totally secure now, absolutely secure. I live by myself; I don’t mind.”

 

“I don’t have the money for all these various services that they give me. I would have never had them. And if that’s what we’re going to do with the folks in my age bracket all across America, it’s gonna be a good thing. And they’re in thirty states now. And they’re trying for more, you know. I want to see them get some of the critical areas like Arizona, Florida… If more people knew about it, they would be here, I’m sure.”

 

“I come here because I like to get involved with things like planning trips and things like that for everybody. And going to the meetings and fighting issues on their behalf. Gives me something to do and it’s the type of thing someone should be a part of if you can, you know helping the elderly people out. I mean, I’m not that bad off. Physically, I’m shot, but mentally I’ve still got my faculties about me. I can help people out the best I can writing grievances and things like that and presenting them for them. It gives me something to do, come over and socialize. I like the doctors here too. They’re great, absolutely great.”

 

“Now I’m involved in another issue altogether. Here we are at PACE and I have always found great pleasure in talking to elderly people. They are living history as they come in here every day. They are making history. We have three ladies that accumulated are three hundred and three years old this month. They’ve had that many years between the three of them. It was in our newsletter. Three hundred and three years, man. I want to talk to those ladies. I’m gonna search each one out and I’m gonna talk to them to see what they can tell me...”