The Villages Daily Sun

THE VILLAGES — Manny Freitas doesn’t feel old … but he is beginning to wonder if he is old.

“Most of the guys I knew are gone,” said Freitas, an 83-year-old ball of fire who’s still going full-tilt in his 19th year in The Villages. “You know, I’m a veteran of World War II. There aren’t many of us around anymore. Every day, I’m watching them drop.”

Manny has no intention of following his departed brothers. Not yet. Not when there’s so much to do.

Swimming every morning, tennis three times a week, places to go, people to see. And hanging Christmas lights at his Tanbury Lane home.

“I don’t have the icicle lights that hang down,” Freitas said. “My wife won’t let me climb up on the roof anymore.”

That’s about the only undertaking Elsie has talked her tough old husband out of. She’s always been more likely to say “go” than “no.”

“We’re young and beautiful,” Elsie said. “We don’t feel old. I’m 81, but I don’t feel like it.”

They don’t sound old, either. When Manny and Elsie talk, there’s an excitement in the words — a “gee, it’s great to be alive” feeling.

The years have been good to the Freitases, perhaps because they’ve been so good to each other.

“It’s been great,” Elsie says of their 60-year marriage.

Husband and wife still enjoy lots of quality time together. For instance, they relish visiting the swimming pool, although their needs are different. Elsie goes to the pool in hopes of rehabilitating a back injury. Manny goes to keep his boyish figure.

“But I don’t really need to,” he said. “I’m still a little guy. I’ve never been one of those big fat guys.”

There wasn’t much chance of Manny developing a spare tire when he worked as foreman in a Massachusetts warehouse. Not with orders from big stores like Zayre coming in nearly as fast as Manny and his crew could fill them.

Manny was the first employee to retire from the company. Three years later, the business folded. Coincidence? Manny’s too modest to say if the firm would have stayed afloat had he stayed.

In The Villages, Manny hasn’t fully embraced the concept of retirement. At least not the early-to-bed, early-to-rise concept. The first 15 years here, Manny and Freitas wore out the Silver Lake Club dance floor. And they could really cut a rug.

Emmitt Smith, eat your heart out.

Through the years, Manny’s held the occasional odd job. One of his favorites: delivering UPS packages via golf cart.

That was 12 years ago. Manny no longer lugs boxes. But he’ll gladly lug a tennis racket any day of the week. But he does more than lug it. He holds a 3.5 rating. No wonder he’s anxious to participate in the Senior Games. He’ll be tough to beat in his age division.

Playing guys his own age will be a welcome change. In The Villages, there aren’t many days when Manny is the youngest man on the court. Only then is he reminded that he’s 83, not 63.

“You play tennis with a guy 30 years younger than you and you’re going to know it,” Freitas says.

About the only other time Frietas feels his age is when he visits the doctor, who has prescribed medications for blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s a small concession to make to live the active life.

The medications help, but they aren’t the reason Manny has the vigor of a man 20 years his junior.

“Portuguese food. That’s what it is,” says Elsie. “A lot of hot soups and good-quality meats. That’s what keeps him going.”

Anyone think we need a Portuguese restaurant here?

Gary Corsair is a senior writer with the Daily Sun. He can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 7907, or gary.corsair@thevillagesmedia.com.