She’s only just begun

June Casagrande

When you ask Nathalie Goldstein how long she’s been a volunteer at

the Oasis Senior Center, she says blithely: “Oh, not long. Just 18

years.” She has a similarly light-hearted answer to the question of

how long she has been married to Irving: “Oh, I’ve only been married

for 61 years to the same man.”

Time flies when you’re having fun. And for Goldstein, the fun

didn’t stop when she retired 18 years ago from her job as an office

manager. On the contrary, the fun was just beginning.

The super-active 83-year-old has been teaching Mah Jong at the

center for about eight years. Once or twice a week she sits down with

small groups of seniors to teach them about a game that has intrigued

her for most of her life.

“I used to teach large groups of 25 or so, but that was too hard.

Now I keep it down to four or five,” the Corona del Mar resident

said. “It’s a fascinating game -- learning the tiles, learning the

hands ... It takes about five weeks to learn it if you do it once a

week.”

But that’s not the only thing she does at Oasis. She also helps

run the gift shop, works with membership sign-ups, works in the

kitchen and myriad other activities that she says make her life full

and fun. And when she’s not the teacher or the helper, she’s a

student. As a member of Oasis, Goldstein likes to take part in many

of the programs offered at the center.

“Let’s see. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I take exercise

classes. On Thursdays I do yoga. I’m the kind of person that likes to

keep busy. It keeps you going. And it’s very rewarding because Oasis

is just such a wonderful place. There’s something for everybody.

Nobody can say there’s nothing to do.”