Playing the accordion for hospital patients. Working as a crossing guard. Dog sitting for 30 clients. At age 71, Linda Iovino likes to keep busy, never forgetting a quote she read at the bookstore when she was in high school: “It takes 12 muscles to smile and 72 muscles to frown.” While the numbers may or may not be accurate, the underlying message exemplifies how Iovino continues to live her life.

“With what is going on in our world today, people are having a hard time getting through the day,” she says. “We all need to do things that make us happy. You must advocate for yourself. Encourage yourself and love yourself, because no one does that for you.” Iovino’s grandparents came to the United States from Italy in the early 1900s.