After losing longtime love, he found new friends and refuge

TOWN 'N COUNTRY

Victor and Gerda Morales met when he was a soldier stationed in Germany during the early 1950s. They married, raised six children together, and had their last argument, he believes, around 1956. Then, on Oct. 31, 2008, Gerda's heart failed, and suddenly she was gone. Victor felt lost. "I didn't know what to do,'' he says. "I'd be driving aimlessly all over the place. I would go to the shopping malls, and that brought back memories. It was just horrible.''

His cousin rescued him from the gloom by introducing him to the Town 'N Country Senior Center, which opened a few weeks after Gerda's death.

"It snapped me out of it,'' says Morales. "This place has been a lifesaver.''

His white hair neatly combed, wearing a knit shirt he carefully pressed himself, Morales greets everyone there with the effusiveness of a politician. If the center had a mayor, he would be it. Recently, his friends threw a surprise 80th birthday party for him.

He drives 3 miles from his home to the senior center about 10:30 each morning after having devoured his morning newspapers, including the online New York Times and Washington Post. He might play a little pool in the center's recreation room or join friends in bouts of dominoes. On Fridays, he teaches guitar lessons.

A native of Puerto Rico, Morales says he loves the international nature of the center. The other day he sat at a table with a Colombian, an Ecuadorian, a Spaniard and a Nicaraguan, all speaking Spanish with different dialects.

"Once in a while somebody will say a word that's offensive to Puerto Ricans. Then I will say something … that's offensive to a Nicaraguan,'' he laughs. "But we all get along very well.''

A vaunted dominoes player, Morales won the annual senior center tournament in 2010. He and his cousin, Jaime Rodriguez, occasionally team up to take on challengers. The others have to put up with a little banter between the two, who grew up together. Morales calls Rodriguez "Cocoliso'' — hairless coconut — and Rodriguez, 72, may refer to Morales as "an old man with gray hair.''

The cousins liven the place up, says Mary Ossa, who drives a friend to the center regularly. Rodriguez tells a lot of jokes and Morales is a great conversationalist, she says. "He's interesting because he knows a lot. He reads. He shares his knowledge with everybody.'' Plus, he plays guitar.

Center manager Lori Radice says she really misses Morales on the rare day he doesn't show up.

"Victor is just a gem,'' she says. "He is truly a unique individual that has, I guess you would say, a great pep in his step.''

Morales says it helps that he has never been shy. When he first saw Gerda, she was with her father. "She was 17 years old, oh my God, just beautiful.''

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He managed to get himself invited to their table, where he was delighted to find that she spoke English but her father didn't. They got married in Germany.

Though Morales worked for a while as a printer and auxiliary police officer, a back injury during his time in the service and resulting surgery left him with fused vertebrae and 100 percent disability. After the kids were grown, Gerda, feeling restless, took a job at Publix and retired after 18 years. They spent the last few years going on cruises and having fun.

He knows she would be happy for him, glad that he has found a new place and new friends to erase the sadness. He wishes he could have taken her to the senior center.

"She would have enjoyed this group here.''

Philip Morgan can be reached at pmorgan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3435.