An active lifestyle means happiness for this senior

Phyllis Solod /photo | IRINA MISSIURO

Phyllis Solod is happiest when she is keeping busy. Not one to lounge in front of a TV, this senior prefers to be out and about – socializing, helping and volunteering – anything but being sedentary and alone. As of late, however, she has been battling some health issues – an unfortunate circumstance that has somewhat impeded her activity, but has not put a damper on her energy. Luckily, with a little help from her friends, who are happy to lend a hand, Solod has been able to maintain her involved lifestyle.

Having had surgery on her rotator cuff in late December – her 17th operation – Solod is currently undergoing occupational therapy to restore full movement to her arm. She’s no stranger to discomfort, having experienced a bone transplant to save a finger 40 years ago. An optimist, she says that she’s already observed much improvement in her arm. Solod is impatient to heal because she is an extremely lively senior who is used to helping others, not depending on them. She wants to resume her usual routines that include driving her grandkids to appointments and volunteering wherever she feels she is needed.

Two of her grandchildren live in Warwick, and four reside in Tel Aviv. Solod is excited about an upcoming opportunity to see the Israelis, who are arriving in two months to visit for a couple of weeks. Then, in the fall, she will travel to their home. Solod is looking forward to spending time with her family because, after 10 years of cohabitation, her daughter and grandchildren recently moved out of her home to live on their own. All of a sudden, she’s having dinners on her own, and her house is quiet…until the children come to visit.

Solod has always loved crowds of relatives. Growing up, she was one of four kids. Now her sister is no longer alive. One brother lives in Massachusetts and another in Chicago. Solod has been a widow for 23 1/2 years. You can tell that Arthur, her husband, meant a lot to her by the way she speaks about him. She emphasizes that “half” even in the number of years they were married – 27 and a half.

Solod tells the story of their engagement. When she was 24 and he was 26, she wouldn’t give him her hand in marriage until he made a phone call to her father asking for it. Even though their parents did business together – his family was in cotton batting, and her father was an upholsterer – the kids met on their own at a square dance at the Worcester JCC. When the groom wanted to elope, Solod refused, choosing to move to New York instead and work for Macmillan Publishers.

Dissatisfied with sharing a tiny one-bedroom apartment with her sister, Solod returned to Worcester, where she found a job with Corrugated Box Company. After they married, her husband wanted to see what life in California was like, so they moved. Unfortunately, Solod didn’t take to the west coast. In six months, the family relocated to Warwick, where she has lived ever since. Since the move, Solod has worked in various jobs, including an aide at Greenwood Nursing Home and magazine collator at Franklin Graphics. Her last paying job was for TruckAway, where she kept the books.

Now retired, Solod recently celebrated her 75th birthday. To mark the occasion, her family took her to a nice dinner at Gregg’s, where she enjoys the salmon. On the topic of food, Solod pointed out that she never overindulges on carbohydrates such as pasta. While she doesn’t diet, she does stick to a healthy regimen, eating nutritious foods in moderation and exercising whenever she gets a chance. This month, the Warwick Beacon wrote an article on Solod’s following of the TOPS program (take off pounds sensibly.) Last year, she went on an all-expenses-paid trip to Milwaukee to represent Rhode Island as the state Queen at the program’s annual conference. The March issue of the TOPS magazine ran her photo – an accomplishment Solod takes pride in. After all, she not only lost 34 pounds, but also was able to go off her diabetes medication. To keep the weight off, Solod makes sure to walk around Wethersfield Commons, where she lives.

Other ways in which she keeps busy include volunteering at The Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Residence. After teaching the residents mahjong for a couple of years, Solod now visits the facility to take part in its bingo game – a passion of hers for the past eight years. She also keeps young by mentoring children. Overseen by Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership, Solod reads with the kids, solves math problems, throws the ball and does arts and crafts. Because she cannot drive yet, she has been feeling sad about not being able to spend time with them since her surgery.

She also hasn’t been able to visit us here at The Voice, where her organizational skills and assistance have proven indispensible to Tricia Stearly, advertising manager. The filing she does at our office probably reminds Solod of her first job at the Worcester Public Library. She first started volunteering for the paper about six years ago, when she asked then-editor Nancy Kirsch if she could use some help.

Now Solod relies on Barbara, a friend from TOPS, to bring her to the Dwares JCC, go shopping and run errands. When you help everyone else, people don’t mind helping you. Such is certainly the case with Solod. Always there for her friends and family, she has been on the receiving end lately.

Assisting others is one of the reasons she, with Barbara’s help, attends TOPS meetings every Thursday. “If I can help somebody new, I go,” Solod says. “It’s very important to me because, even though I have been able to maintain my weight, it helps me discipline myself.” When asked to offer some advice to those struggling to stay in shape, she suggests eating from the food pyramid and exercising at least every other day. Solod makes it a point to walk for 10 minutes three times a day.

And most importantly, don’t deprive yourself – everyone deserves a treat now and then. Solod’s favorite indulgence is the apple cake she makes for Tamarisk residents. When her injury prevented her from baking hamantaschen as she usually does at Purim, Solod bought three dozen from a local woman to share with her friends, many of whom she met while volunteering.

Solod is thankful to them for expressing appreciation for her efforts. Not long ago, the Tamarisk residents enjoyed the interviews that Solod and Florence Katz had conducted with the facility’s staff and shared with everyone.

In her free time, Solod likes to be entertained. She loves watching great movies, such as “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” playing cards and board games with her grandson Chris and traveling. Solod has ushered at the Providence Performing Arts Center for more than 20 years. She enjoyed meeting people and seeing musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Mama Mia” and “Carousel.” If you bump into her at the movies, theater or supermarket, take a minute to say thank you to this wonderful woman, who always places the needs of others above her own.

IRINA MISSIURO is a writer and editorial consultant for The Jewish Voice.