: About Me

Hi everyone!

My name is Carol Anne Massi and I am retired but definitely not retiring! I was born a teacher and shall die a teacher, although I don't anticipate the latter for a long, long time. I am having too much fun and am never bored.

I taught high school mathematics for thirty-five and a half years, teaching students everything from one on one individual lesson plans to advanced placement calculus. When I first started teaching in an urban high school, I had 2 Algebra I classes and 3 Industrial Math classes which consisted of ALL BOYS! As a just out of college young lady, you can imagine that those 3 classes were quite a challenge. After 3 years, I left that school for a different setting and remained there until my retirement. I always had "good kids" with 3 exceptions and those 3 still bring tears to my eyes because they weren't reachable...they were my failures.

In my spare time, now that I have some, I like to read, write, play computer games, play the piano, line dance, take walks, listen to my ipod, email, do crossword and sudoku puzzles and do so many other things. Unfortunately my "elderly" body [to quote my last visit to the emergency room's doctor report] doesn't allow me to do some of the things I used to do. For example, I used to bowl {not to brag but I have a trophy for a 211 game with a 16 pound ball].

My husband and I have also traveled many places {Italy, Egypt, most of the states in the United States]. We have gone fishing in Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming. I have gone hiking with my daughter in the Great Smoky Mountains one July 4th weekend. [Our daughter is in vet school in Knoxville Tennessee and will be starting rotations soon...groan]. I have driven cargo vans 5 or more hours one way to Ithaca and Boston moving our daughter into and out of college and apartments. I don't think I can drive alone more than 3 hours now as my "butt" gets tired of being in one position after a while. Inside I feel like I'm 29...too bad my outside shell adds 38 years to that number!

I am looking forward to writing for Helium. Thanks for being there for would-be writers like me.

Relationships & Family > Elderly Parents & Care Ways to protect an aging parent without making them feel less independent

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When my grandmother and her daughter-in-law were both widowed, my very independent aunt discussed with my grandmother a way for them both to benefit. My grandmother had varicose veins and severe osteoporosis. The doctor informed her that she shouldn't be going up and down the stairs in her two-story house. In case she would fall, there would be no one there to help her until someone checked on her, for example. My aunt had a house that was built on a hill so that it was basically a ranch house with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, bath, living room, dining room on the main [upper] floor. The downstair...

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