Stylinâ Seniors - Eduardo Roldos
The following story comes from Eduardo Roldos, a member of the Moriah Senior Center, at 90 Bennett Avenue in Manhattan:
My name is Eduardo Roldos. Â I am 76 years old from Cuba, but most of my relatives from both sides are from Barcelona, Spain. Â I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy. Â
I decided to take Philosophy as my degree and I finished that in Cuba before I came to this country. Â I always, since I was in Cuba, liked fashion and nice outfits. Â And when I came to this country, after a while I learned very good English I was lucky that I worked for Anne Klein and Perry Ellis. Â And then I developed, I donât want to use the word obsession, with clothes, but I started spending most of my money in clothes and traveling. About traveling I have been all over Europe seven or eight times in my 76 years, plus Russia, Hong Kong, South America, etc. Â But I never thought about the future and to save money, and even I was married a couple of times, my tendency to buy clothes increased, and when I moved to my last job that I was Office Services Manager, every day I wore a different outfit to go to work. Â I have in my closed around 125 suspenders, matching with ties. Â And I have three closets full of clothes, especially for the summertime. Â
But most of the time the suspenders and ties are in my closet and I donât have the opportunity to use all of them, it will be impossible, but always when I go to the center I try to have a different outfit. Â
I enjoy coming to the Moriah Center, because most of the people that come to Moriah are from Europe and they know about the Second World War, and they are from Russia, Germany, Vienna, France, Poland, etc. Â And these are places I have been to a couple of times. Â And I feel very related to them because I have nice conversations about those countries that I have visited. Â And besides that, we have a lot in common; they like opera and classical music, we exchange tapes, DVDs, books, etc. Â
Early in the morning there is a small group that we enjoy doing a different puzzle. Â And the food is fantastic. Â It is very well prepared and we always have tea, soup, the main course and dessert. Â And most of the time for $2 I am able to take a meal home and I always bring that to my son who is diabetic. Â And he enjoys that food also. Â
I feel wonderful when I go to Moriah because I am a widower and at least, especially in the winter time, I donât feel so depressed or down by myself in the apartment because my son is working the whole day and he gets home by seven oâclock.
I love Moriah and at the same time I noticed that they like me very much also. Â I donât want to say that I am their favorite member, but they always have a nice conversation with me, and I was very happy to participate in the Stylinâ Seniors Project, because I guess I will help other people that when they read this they can become aware of these places, and they can go to a center and not feel depressed, and with the multiple activities at the centers hopefully they will have inspiration to join centers like Moriah and others in New York City.
I have a few illnesses that I donât want to detail, because it would be too long a statement. Â But when I go to Moriah I forget completely about my health problems, and I feel on top of the world.
- Photos by Richard Henry