Norma Fink, 101, doesn’t hesitate to share what keeps her moving.
“You know what [Major League Baseball Hall of Famer] Satchel Paige said?” she asked. “You never know who’s trying to catch up to you.”
The Plantation resident spent her Fourth of July morning serving as grand marshal of her city’s Independence Day parade. Most mornings, she can be found at the registration desk of the Veltri Racquet Center, working part-time at a job she has held for more than 50 years.
Mayor Nick Sortal, inspired by Fink’s charm, asked her to serve as grand marshal to reward her for her decades of service. For Fink, it was just another opportunity to show her friends, family and community that life is worth toasting.
“There’s always something to celebrate,” she said. “The first 100 years were easy.”
Not really, she understands. But really.
“No matter how challenging life got, I always had everything I wanted.”
Fink was born in 1921 and lived through the Great Depression and World War II, was in the first graduating class that permitted women to get degrees in economics from New York University, got married, raised a son and daughter, and lived in New York, California and Florida.
While her son still lives in Broward, as does her grandson and other family members, Fink lives alone and likes it that way. “The hardest thing in the world was to convince my family to let me,” she said.
As if her longevity and independence weren’t enough inspiration, Fink is also fighting cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia to be precise, a diagnosis that has barely slowed her down. “CLL, they call it. I don’t ask. They told me I was sick. I don’t know. I just like my independence.”
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