Tennis Anyone? Christa, age 74

When I walked into Peet’s to meet Christa, I was immediately struck by her sparkling blue eyes, her amazing sense of style and the warmth and happiness that radiated from her.At 74, Christa has the vitality of someone years younger and still retains her beautiful Austrian accent. She left her family home at 21 with a short stay in Geneva before coming permanently to the United States. Christa ended up in Albany staying briefly with a distant relative. When she first arrived, Christa ran around (literally until her shoes were holey) looking for a job, ending up with a couple of short-term jobs until landing permanently at the Goethe Institute.Christa speaks four languages, Portuguese, French, German and Spanish, has been married for 46 years and has one son. Christa has always been an athlete, skiing in her youth and now playing tennis, two hours everyday. She plays singles and competes against women half her age!  On a recent tennis tournament weekend in Sacramento, the management of the hotel where the team was staying called the room to ask the ladies to quiet it down – they were watching the Warriors!Christa has never dyed her hair and still fits into clothes from 30 years ago – LUCKY! When she does shop, it’s usually at consignment shops for better quality and value.  When I met Christa at 10am, she had already played tennis, and had shopping and lunch with a friend still on her agenda for the day.The key to staying young, says Christa is being around people of all ages!