“My dad died at age 37, when I was 3. However, I had a next-door neighbor who took over as my father figure…
READ STORY“Seventeen years ago, I found a small bald spot at the nape of my neck. Then another one developed right near it and merged into one softball-sized bald spot…
WATCH NOW“I had a hard time in school when I was a kid…
READ STORY“I started my reiki journey eight years ago. I’ve been professionally practicing for seven years…
READ STORY“When my wife, Lyn, and I joined the Peace Corps after graduating from college in January of 1965…
READ STORY“My inspiration is my dad. He successfully migrated from Liberia and obtained a PhD in chemistry from Columbia University…
READ STORY“It’s like sunshine with an ‘M,’ I always used to tell my students. I taught high school English for 58 years…
READ STORY“It’s been about a decade of ups and downs with my fertility. I have a very complicated story…
READ STORY“I always wanted a civil service job. I worked in retail for six years, and I took a bunch of civil service tests…
READ STORY“I went into the Navy when I was 21 years old. My great-grandfather was in the Navy. My father was in the Navy…
READ STORY“I used to bake cakes and cookies with my mom when I was younger just for fun…
READ STORY“Not many people who served in the Army can say they are also a figure skater, a rabbi, a TV and film actor and a professional photographer…
READ STORY“I have had a passion for swimming for as long as I can remember…
READ STORY“There were years and years of absolutely hating myself. I was an alcoholic who was depressed and suffering from severe anxiety attacks on a daily basis…
READ STORY“In 2019, I took my very first lash class because I decided I wanted to have a beauty business…
READ STORY“I was always in love with my bike. I lived on my bike, it was my world…
READ STORY“I was always surrounded by music. My dad taught himself to play guitar and sing…
READ STORY“My work has been grief work for most of my life. I got my master’s in thanatology, working with end-of-life issues…
READ STORY“I started photography as a hobby when I was around 12 or 13 years old, spending almost 100 percent of my time at the beach…
READ STORY“I have always loved horses since I was little. I started horseback riding when I was 6 years old…
READ STORY“Dance is just me. It’s the purest form of self-expression that I will ever get…
READ STORY“I came to this country in 1967 as an immigrant from Macao, China…
READ STORY“I started as a kid. My mom danced, and I was the last child, and my mom always had the hope that one of us would dance…
READ STORY“My father practiced veterinary medicine, and I had animals my whole life…
READ STORY“I first discovered puppets when I was a child growing up in Buffalo, New York…
READ STORY“I guess you can say I have always been an old soul because of my dad, who has always been my inspiration…
READ STORY“Fifteen years ago, my husband and I got a bulldog, Bella, from a backyard breeder, thinking that was the right way to go about it…
READ STORY“I grew up in a village located in Fujian, a coastal province of China renowned for its unique oolong and jasmine teas…
READ STORY“I picked up my first drink at 15…
READ STORY“The events of 9/11 changed my life drastically…
READ STORY“When I was 5, I tripped and fell in the shower. My two front teeth got pushed up into my gums…
READ STORY“In 1970, as a typical college student at Cornell University, I had dreams of a fulfilling life…
READ STORY“Growing up, I experienced a history of child abuse in my family. I knew that I didn’t want to repeat the same cycle and become like my mother…
READ STORY“I moved here in the early ’90s, and I joined an inclusion class. Inclusion classes are when they take kids from special ed and mainstream them with the other kids…
READ STORY“I retired from teaching social studies in 1992 to care for my son, Nicholas, who is profoundly affected by autism…
READ STORY“I call myself a breast cancer previvor, someone who has a genetic predisposition to cancer…
READ STORY“I’m an elementary school teacher and will be retiring in 2025. I started making candles during the pandemic…
READ STORY“I’m proud to call myself a Caribbean-American, with familial roots stretching back to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jamaica…
READ STORY“In the past five years, I’ve biked over 100,000 miles. Cycling is great for the mind, body and soul and gives you an avenue in which to stay fit while enjoying the outdoors…
READ STORY“When I started college, I was a bio major, but I didn’t enjoy it very much. I struggled a lot, and it made it hard for me to want to be in school because I felt very defeated…
READ STORY“My family was into kart racing before I was even born. My older half-brother raced at Riverhead Raceway…
READ STORY“Playing lacrosse has been a passion for me since I was in fourth grade. I was introduced to it by my friend Maddie during show-and-tell…
READ STORY“When I noticed that residents of the AHRC [Association for Habilitation and Residential Care] visiting the Glen Cove Public Library were not engaging in our services, I created a program called Hooked on Books…
READ STORY“My name is Gaetano Giordano, but you can call me Tano. I come from a proud lineage of Italian immigrants, my parents, Cecilia and Francesco…
READ STORY“When I was in college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I thought the easy path for me to be successful was go to college, study finance and make money on Wall Street…
READ STORY“I’ve been photographing since I was 3 years old. My grandfather was a professional photographer who worked for newspapers in New York City…
READ STORY“I originally grew up in Roslyn. What truly defines me is my unwavering Christian faith…
READ STORY“I have been drawing since I was 10 years old in Haiti. My parents didn’t know much about art, but they never stopped me from doing it…
READ STORY“When I was 17, my mom unexpectedly passed away. It was so jarring. She was 51 years old…
READ STORY“My mom passed away in a car accident when I was 11. I was in the car with her. Cooking kept me busy and kept me positive when I was feeling lost…
READ STORY“I have no background in dancing, but I’ve always been into fitness. When I was a freshman in college, I went to see a pole dancing showcase and fell in love with this art form…
READ STORY“My father was a musician and started me on piano when I was 4. I was really intimidated by how good he was, so I started playing guitar to be just as good…
READ STORY“I immigrated to America from Haiti when I was 15 years old. I arrived at the airport with a lot of hopes, visions and uncertainty of not knowing what life would bring…
READ STORY“My husband got a rare form of leukemia and passed away in September of 1983. He was a deputy inspector with the Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau…
READ STORY“I am from Portland, Maine, originally, so I grew up by the water and always had a love for marine animals…
READ STORY“I never dreamed that mountain biking — and protecting and expanding our trails on Long Island — would become my passion…
READ STORY“Out of all the holidays, ever since I was a little girl, I had a passion for Halloween. I’m very good at makeup and hair, and I love to be creative in any way I can…
READ STORY“When I was 14, my dad decided we were moving from Brooklyn to Puerto Rico. His mom had moved a couple years prior to that, and he’s definitely what we call a mama’s boy…
READ STORY“When I told my guidance counselor in high school that I wanted to apply to NYU, she told me not to bother…
READ STORY“Just before the pandemic, I missed my annual mammography. I was taking care of my mom, who had a stroke, and she needed me…
READ STORY“We met freshman year of college through one of my best friends, Sarah. So, she gets all the credit for this because she introduced us to each other…
READ STORY“I grew up in College Point in Queens, which is a small town. But my now husband, who I met in high school, grew up on the Queens side of Floral Park, and it made us fall in love with Nassau…
READ STORY“I grew up with an older brother that skated, and I thought he was the coolest…
READ STORY“I was following a girl on Instagram. Her mother was posting her journey of fighting leukemia…
READ STORY“I was a cameraman before I even knew it. I’d watch movies and be so moved and affected by them…
READ STORY“I was the youngest of three sisters, so I figured I’d be the lucky one. My sister Melisande was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003…
READ STORY“I’ve always loved research. Honestly, with the right attitude, anything can be a puzzle or a thrilling mystery…
READ STORY“In a Greek-Italian family, food is a big focus. I grew up in my family’s restaurant in Port Washington…
READ STORY“I was always in love with music. When I was 6 years old, I started singing lessons. By 13, I was exploring my passion for songwriting…
READ STORY“My third daughter, Althea, saved my life. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer while I was pregnant with her, my last child…
READ STORY“I was born in Calabria, Italy, and my family and I immigrated in 1987. My father was always about the American dream, so he started different businesses…
READ STORY“My dad, Wayne, passed away two months ago. In April 2022, he was diagnosed with ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis], also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease…
READ STORY“I was going through so much in my life from 2014 to 2020, where I was suffering from a very rare illness, Granulomatosis with polyangiitis…
READ STORY“I was actually born and raised in the boroughs, and then I moved to Long Island. I am a first generation American, and my parents were born in Indonesia…
READ STORY“Our son, Noah, was the most amazing baby boy. He was so strong and resilient and lit up a room with his big bright eyes and beautiful shining smile…
READ STORY“I was meant to be a lawyer. I was 3 years old when I came to America. As an immigrant, I can fully relate to the Latino law community’s experience…
READ STORY“I’m a CPA by trade. I was in accounting for five years, and then I transitioned into finance. I was working at my job for very long hours…
READ STORY“When I was 10 years old, I had a terrible case of acne that made me feel incredibly insecure about my skin…
READ STORY“I’ve always thrived in businesses that were entrepreneurial. My love language is innovation…
READ STORY“I’ve always loved helping people. When I was in high school, I was a candy striper, and I really liked it…
READ STORY“Finding out in 1979 that I was mixed-race on my dad’s side has been just an ongoing process of meeting the family and discovering ancestors…
READ STORY“I’m not a renaissance man. I like what I like. I have my interests — musical theater and classic motion pictures…
READ STORY“I grew up in a small town in Sicily. In my family, farming has been a cherished tradition passed down from one generation to the next…
READ STORY