Alamo Couple Finds Energy, Joy Helping Others
by Rocio Villalobos
Glen and Lynn Massingill seem to do it all. The couple, married 54 years, have called Alamo’s Trophy Gardens RV Resort home for the last seven years, but their time in the Valley dates back decades.
While they left Virginia to retire full-time in the RGV, they previously lived in Brownsville and other parts of Texas. The region has tremendously grown in the decades since, but there remains a familiarity that makes them feel right at home.
“It isn’t totally new to us,” Glenn said. “We like the people, and we like to be warm.”
Around the park, they help with the dances, church, pickleball, fundraisers, golf-cart parades, and more.
“We have a good time; we don’t tell our kids half of what we do,” Lynn said. “When our daughter calls us and asks, ‘What do you guys have planned for today?’ we’re like, ‘Well, we’re going to be busy,’ but we don’t share just how busy. She wouldn’t believe it if we did.”
The Massingills have even taken up selling houses, and it happened by accident.
“It started off with one couple that had a nice park model here, and they decided during the summer they weren’t going to be able to come back because of health reasons,” Lynn said. “They called me and asked if I would help sell their house, so I did.”
From then on, they’ve helped sell more than a dozen homes in the park, with Glenn handling the paperwork.
“If we can help somebody else, we’ll help them,” Glenn said. “Our park is good at helping--all of us. That’s our way of making friends. If we just sat there and didn’t do anything, we would grow old. So we socialize and take part in all the different things and find ways to help.”
They also stay active by traveling. Typically, they travel and visit family during the summer, but they haven’t in the past few years due to the pandemic. However, this has deepened their appreciation for the park, pushing them to be even more involved and building upon their friendships.
“With COVID, we actually learned that we like it a lot down here in the summertime; it’s different,” Lynn said. “There are not nearly as many people in the park, but we like all those people and get to do a lot together during this time.”
Lynn adds, the more they take on, the better off they are.
“I believe you have to keep going and doing things or else pretty soon you can’t,” she said. “So this is our exercise, our entertainment; it’s all kinda mixed together.””