From a wondrous night of being honored by the remarkable Parker Jewish Institute to celebrating Halloween with my family, it was a special week.
Keeping this journal I call a column is really the little girl in me keeping a daily diary. Just recording my life gives me an opportunity to remember the special moments in my life and be grateful for every day. If you don’t keep a journal or a diary, you should definitely try it!
One of the joys of being in the news business is meeting people in different worlds from mine and one of the talented people I have met is Michael Rosenblut who runs Parker Institute. He has built a multi-level organization that offers compassionate care in short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, home healthcare, hospice, social adult day care, medical house calls, transportation, inpatient and outpatient dialysis, and AgeWell New York’s managed long-term care and Medicare Advantage Plan. They passionately care for more than 2,000 adults a day!
Parker has been providing services to this group for over 110 years, a major feat for sure. It was my honor to be recognized by them as “a champion and an inspiration” and it was a glorious night held at my favorite cultural institution (where I serve on the board), the stunning and recently spectacularly renovated and expanded Queens Museum.
The venue has become a popular event space, and many friends, colleagues and all my children were present to share the evening but the words of my son, Josh, stopped me in my tracks as his words cut a hole in my heart to sit there forever.
Here they are:
There are so many things one can say about their mother, particularly one that you have worked with and been business partners with for over 15 years.
I could talk about my mother and describe her for hours, so to most briefly and eloquently speak of my mother, I can share that she is a woman that has bigger balls than any man I have ever encountered. And that is everything from fighting with ferocious passion for what she believes in to making sure she was front and center to greet the Pope at the Vatican in Rome.
If there’s one thing my mother has instilled in myself, my sisters and many that my mother has met, it is that anything is possible if you put your mind to it; that every day is a blessing; and that no matter what adversity you face in life, tomorrow will bring a better day.
Those are guiding qualities that can give you just a sense of how a mother of four, with her firstborn daughter, Lara, brain damaged at birth, was able to take on the government to establish group homes not just in this city but across America, start a business in our home and live every day with a love of life and passion for her family and every single thing that she does.
He floored me with his loving words and he added to a night I will never forget!
Halloween fun with the family
On Sunday, all my kids and grandkids came over to my Halloween decorated house for a party that my daughter Elizabeth had organized to put us in the holiday spirit. The bonus was the celebration of my son Josh’s birthday with a unique pumpkin cake that my daughter Samantha found.
It’s so much fun to dress up for Halloween. Send me your costume photos.
I believe in balancing my life between hard work and play, and taking time to be grateful for each day!
