Senior Spotlight: Avo Massoyan

I was born in Syria on Oct. 15, 1933. I am the son of Baghdasar Massoyan. My father was born in Turkey, where he owned a fabric store. He was left widowed when he lost his first wife, with whom he had four children. Later, he married my mom, Lucy. She used to work for him and they had four children. I was the youngest.

I attended elementary school. When I was 13 years old, my father had a stroke and I had to work with my brothers to help make a living for our family. I was a mechanic.

I met my lovely wife, Eugeni, and married her in 1963. I was 29 and she was 19 years old. We have been happily married for 52 years. We had three children, two boys and a girl.

We moved to the United States in 1977 and have lived here for 38 years. When we moved I didn’t know English. I worked in a factory for two years. In 1979 I started owning and operating my own gas station. I retired after 12 years.

My oldest son, Rafi, is an auto technician and has his own smog station. He is married and has two boys, Harout and Avedis. They attend an Armenian school. My youngest son, Vicken, is a graphic designer in Visalia.

Our daughter Talas passed away from leukemia at the age of 28. I was very close to her. After she passed away both my wife and I were very depressed. My wife made me attend the Clovis Senior Activity Center. I play bridge and enjoy it very much. I recommend every retired person to find a hobby at the senior center, especially when you are feeling depressed and need some companionship. Everyone there is wonderful to me.

Thank God for having the Clovis Senior Activity Center; we enjoy activities here five days a week.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Senior Spotlight: Avo Massoyan."