Age Doesn't Matter

Age Doesn’t Matter

by Juan Pawlo De Jesus

When it comes to age lifestyle of people vary, when people were young they would just play with friends, run around and not know of the different hardships in life but as they grow older their lifestyle changes adapting to their recent hobbies, requirements, or jobs. Our lifestyle affects our health as we grow and that our present lifestyle affects our next lifestyle adapting to where our body can withstand the environment or daily activities.

Cristobal Carcellar the seventy-six year old senior citizen is as active as ever as compared to other senior citizens in their area. At his age Cristobal can still drive to long distance places like from Manila to

Pangasinan which comprises of a 3 hour travel if you are travelling at a rate of 60 km/hr. While driving his keen sense of adrenaline is still as active as ever making his decisions in driving one of the best. He serves at his local parish church as a Lay Minister, the parish is located in Shelito Homes along Zabarte road in Quezon City. Every Sunday is his church service, a Lay Minister refers to Roman Catholics who have an official or semi-official function in the Church but who have not received Holy Orders not professed religous vows. By being in a senior citizen organization, he was able to accomplish a lot of tasks and was able to help out many senior citizens. With all these tasks at hand, he is still able to be a loving husband to his wide Editha Carcellar, a wonderful dad t this six children and a great grandfather to his 14 grandchildren. How did Cristobal achieve a wonderful and energetic lifestyle of his? Let us see his lifestyle before

Cristobal Carcellar as a child had 7 other siblings being the second oldest child responsibilities came upon him at an early age. His father Bienvenido Carcellar and his mother Conchita Carcellar are both government

employees making their salary not enough to support the whole family. So Cristobal Carcellar started to take responsibility. During his elementary years he as a child became a newspaper boy around their hometown. He used to deliver newspapers to different house in their hometown. When newspapers started to grow old in house and that people no longer wanted the old newspaper, Cristobal Carcellar would collect the old newspapers and sell the newspapers he collected, and the money he collected was used help his family. Cristobal Carcellar was doing this for roughly about 5 years. A lot of responsibility for a child in elementary. Lifestyle of Cristobal is being active as a child and selling newspapers which can help his family.

Life as a high school student is hard but that didn’t stop Cristobal Carcellar from continuing his studies while helping his parents. Due to being workaholics, the parents of Cristobal lately arrives home making other things to be done not accomplished like going to the wet market “ Palengke”, taking care of children and etc. It was up to Cristobal to take the responsibility because of the coincidence that the market is along the walkway going to and from Cristobal’s High School, he is the one going to Palengke to buy food, and as he arrives home he takes care of his younger siblings until their parents arrive. Fortunately for Cristobal he was able to surpass all the hardships and trials during the 4 years of his high school. Cristobal’s lifestyle during his secondary education is going to the market to buy food and take care of his younger siblings while studying.

As the next stage of his life approaches which is college, how will Cristobal get through the succeeding

challenges that will come his way? During his college year the money his parents earn is not enough for his tuition, so Cristobal being already legal tried to look for a government job just enough so that he could pay for his tuition. Cristobal was a working student in the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus. Through the trials of studying while working his faith in god never change, he relied on god for his strength to keep moving forward. He graduated as a Chemical Engineer. So Cristobal’s lifestyle during his college life was studying while having a part time job so that he could finance his studies, his projects, and his books.

These are the experiences and events Cristobal went through that made him the person he is now. The experiences he went thru just to achieve this wonderful lifestyle of his made him an active senior citizen, a member of senior citizen’s organization with position, a lay minister in their parish,

a loving husband, a great dad and a wonderful grandfather. Having gone thru different lifestyles during his younger years he was able to find the right lifestyle for him as he grew older.