‘Cement has a history that goes back thousands of years. It amazes me to see what I have done here in cement.’

Rocky Point

“This started when I was young. I was about 10 years old. This is 1941, the beginning of World War II. A neighbor two doors down from my house, was always building with concrete. I thought that was great! I’d run over to him and help, trying to mix cement — but I’m only 10 years old. It went on and on, and he got to like me and called me to come and help him do different things with cement. I always think back and say, ‘That was the seed that was planted in me.’ One day, in 1966, we were driving by here and the real estate was for sale. I looked over my shoulder and I said to my wife, ‘That’d be interesting. Why don’t we buy it?’ It was an old house, but it was livable.

“We moved in, and I started making different things and buying statues and selling them. I was familiarizing myself with the whole business, not knowing nothing about it. As the years passed, I learned mold making…It was all self-taught. It took a long time, but we got this thing going. Now, there’s about 2,000 different pieces in this yard. Back in the ’50s, I started to lose my sight. I got back from the Korean War and picked up uveitis. I still have peripheral vision, but find the more detailed work I can’t do.

“We just started making skulls, and I was surprised to see the interest people had in them. There’s a little statue of Elvis. There’s one of John Paul. This lady brought this mermaid in that was cast iron, and it was old and needed repair. So, I repaired the statue, and then I looked at it and I said, ‘Why don’t we make this in concrete?’ And I copied the mold. I had to improve it where it was delicate and would break.

“Oh my God, there’s so much I could show and teach you. Cement has a history that goes back thousands of years. It amazes me to see what I have done here in cement. A lady enjoyed a bird bath for 40 years. And that was a simple concrete bird bed. That was such a part of her life. Taking care of the birds. The stories I hear about how people come home, and they see something in their yard, and it just gives them a sensation of relaxation. Just approaching the house and seeing a statue of David, a lion or whatever it may be. They’re home and they’re with their statue.”

“One day, a lady came out here and she said, ‘I’m looking for a bagel.’ I said, ‘A bagel? What do you want to do with a bagel?’ She said, ‘Well, every time I’d go to Brooklyn, when I was young, I’d go see my grandmother and she would make us a lox bagel. So, my grandmother died, and I always think of the lox bagel. If I had a bagel, I could put it by her grave.’ Sure enough, I make bagels in concrete! And she loved me. She was the happiest girl in Rocky Point! She bought the bagel, and she took it to her grandmother’s grave and put it on the gravestone.

“Through the years, I’ve heard a lot of stories. Someone came in and saw a statue in the yard and started crying. I asked, ‘What are you crying for?’ They said, ‘That was the statue in my grandfather’s yard that I used to play next to when I was young.’ I’m anxious to get here the next morning and continue. If I didn’t have this, I don’t know. I keep thinking of these people in nursing homes. What would I be doing, playing bingo? What would I be waiting for? Cocktails at 5? There’s nothing wrong with a cocktail. But to stand around and wait for 5 o’clock, that’s ridiculous. So I come here, and I work until 5. I go home and then I eat a dish of pasta and get all charged up again.

“Getting to work with the kids, that’s the best enjoyment, teaching them, showing them. I was amazed at how many hundreds of kids that have worked here. They became policemen, doctors and lawyers and priests. There’s a local priest on Long Island; he stops by. The other day, the mother of two children who worked here came in. They’re now 28 and 29 and both engineers involved in structural work and cement. They feel like my grandchildren. They worked here, now they’re off into the future. I wish they would put the trades in school again. Give me five acres across the street in those woods and I would put up a nice trade school. You know how many other people would love to help me? If it can be done before I die. Kids could use their hands. Your head is no good without your hands. And your hands are no good without your head. What a combination. It gives me great pleasure that I can show the kids the gift of their hands.”

Interviewed by Jay Max

‘I’m learning to cope with all of the pain and not give up. Every day is a battle. Someday, I want to give back.’

Islandia

“I had hydrocephalus, which causes fluid in the brain. I was surgery-free for 13 years until 2010, when I had a shunt revision where they found out my shunts were detached from my head. From that point on, I’ve had surgeries almost every year. In 2015, I had over 20. That’s when my headaches started. I went to Texas because none of the doctors in New York said they could help me. I even had a neurosurgeon tell me that I needed psychiatric help. The doctor I found was the creator of the neurostimulator, which is like a pacemaker for the brain. After a virtual meeting with him, I found out that I was the perfect candidate for it. I did a trial which went great, so I got the permanent one implanted. It worked for five days. As soon as I returned from Texas, I got an infection.

I want to work in a hospital with children because of what I dealt with in the hospitals on Long Island when I was a kid.

“I had the neurostimulator reprogrammed several times and nothing seemed to work. They realized that one of the leads in the back of my head was hitting the shunt and causing loss of vision. To make matters worse, on the Fourth of July, my family decided to do fireworks. While watching, a motor fell out of a tube and hit me on the right side of my head, cracking it open down to the skull. I needed stitches. I have temporary hearing loss in my right ear because of it. I had to recover from that injury before they would do surgery to remove the shunt. The headaches are still there, so my new neurosurgeon on Long Island wants to do another surgery in a few months.

“I’m on disability right now. I’m a licensed practical nurse at an allergist’s office, but I can’t work. I’m so frustrated. I’m learning to cope with all of the pain and not give up, but I’m still not sleeping. I have a great support system. Every day is a battle. I hope that others in similar positions have a positive mindset. I want to believe that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to go back to school and be a registered nurse. The dean at my old school said that I could never be a registered nurse. I am going to prove him wrong. I want to work in a hospital with children because of what I dealt with in the hospitals on Long Island when I was a kid. The nurses were amazing. Someday, I want to give back.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘Running bases, stealing, feeling like you’re playing baseball again.’

East Meadow

“I was always a baseball fan growing up. I got it from my dad, who took me to Yankees games since ’95. About eight years ago, I was at Bethpage [Old Bethpage Village Restoration], and I happened to see some guys playing old-timey baseball. I ended up speaking to one of the guys. He got me coming down, and then after the first or second time, I was hooked right away.

“We try and keep true to the game … What they would wear at the time and even the field we play on is authentic … It’s gorgeous. Everybody that plays there is like, ‘Oh, we love this field.’ It’s just a grass field, but that’s all they played on at that point in time.

You know, it’s like a childish thing, but it’s a great time. And the community is so wonderful and amazing.

“Anywhere they could play, they would. But here is different; you know, it’s inclusive. We just want everyone to have fun. If someone’s new, we always tell them, ‘Please, please come down. Never be scared.’ We’re always very welcoming.

“Everybody kind of just gets nicknames. None of them are just handed out. You know, the one guy, his nickname is Dirt, and one of his first times playing, he just fell and rolled around in the dirt. Another guy’s name is Crawler, because he tripped trying to get to the ball and he had to crawl.

“Every time we play the Brooklyn Atlantics – our quote-unquote rival, but they’re our friends really – after a game, no matter who wins, we hang out and we talk, you know? It’s nice to be able to play against your friends and still be friends after the game.

“Running bases, stealing, feeling like you’re playing baseball again – they call it ‘the child’s game,’ and you do feel like a little kid, just smiling, running around and chasing after a ball.

“You know, it’s like a childish thing, but it’s a great time. And the community is so wonderful and amazing.”

Interviewed by Maggie Melito

‘I just had chemo a few days before … I didn’t feel the best, but I still was able to push myself and be there and tap. I never let cancer stop me from doing what I love.’

Dix Hills

“Being diagnosed has never stopped me from wanting to dance. It pushed me to continue with something that I love. I’m very passionate about dancing, I’m passionate about expressing myself. I love performing with other women, the camaraderie, just the whole experience.

“I remember in 2017, when I was diagnosed, I just had chemo a few days before and I wasn’t sure if I should go, and I went. I didn’t feel the best, but I still was able to push myself and be there and tap. I never let cancer stop me from doing what I love.

“I thought it was very healthy. I was apprenticing with the Red Hot Mamas, a dance company, but I couldn’t start right away because I had to have my port removed, and I kept on emailing them, saying I would be there, but I had to have surgery. I didn’t want it to stop me from pursuing my Red Hot Mama career, and they welcomed me with open arms when I was able to come back.

“The Red Hot Mamas brought back the memories of performing when I was a child. I used to dance, I used to even teach dance to young children. To be able to perform and be with this wonderful group of women, we lean on each other, we support one another, and it gives me the opportunity to shine. I like shining, I like performing, I like to be the star. It brings me such joy and happiness, to be able to do that in nursing homes and to give back.

“I remember we were in a nursing home and someone came up to us and said, ‘Were you Rockettes? You were so phenomenal.’ He asked for our autograph. To them, we are Broadway stars. I remember my first show when I went back, I was at the Northport library and I invited my whole family to come see me because I was back dancing, I was back performing, I was back to where I was.

“It was very emotional for me; I made a whole bunch of mistakes. It was just being back on stage and putting cancer behind me and shining and doing what I love. It was a very emotional day for me, to be able to dance again and live and celebrate life.”

I never questioned ‘Why me?’ Maybe I was chosen to have cancer so I can help others and guide others through their journey.

“Five years ago, when I was diagnosed, I heard those three horrible words: ‘You have cancer.’ That’s when my world turned upside down. But I never let it push me to a place that I would lose my spirit or my energy or my positivity. I’m a very positive person. There were moments when I cried, and there were moments when I was sad. I never questioned, why me? Maybe I was chosen to have cancer so I can help others and guide others through their journey by mentoring, by listening to other women, providing support, giving an ear to listen to and letting them know they’re not alone.

“You hear so many things about other cancers, but you really don’t hear about ovarian cancer, called the silent killer because it whispers a storm is coming. And it was a storm, but I went through my journey skipping. When I rang that bell signifying the end of my chemotherapy, I skipped through the office, I was jumping up and down, hugging everybody, wearing my teal tutu. I did it.

“The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition [NOCC] is an organization proving care for women and their families and their caregivers. We provide comfort of the mind, comfort of the sou. We give food, we provide financial assistance to women going through chemotherapy, we provide educational awareness.

“My mission in working with women who are newly diagnosed is to give them hope so that they know they are not alone, that there is someone who understands what they’re going through.

“Many people may have a friend who will listen, but they don’t get the neuropathy, they don’t get the extreme fatigue. No one else understands until you’ve been through that journey.

“The newly diagnosed need to hear all that. We discuss all that, the emotional component of it. There are a lot of women who are alone, a lot of women who are single mothers, different women throughout their chapter. Ovarian cancer is not an ‘older women’ disease; we’ve had women in their 20s.

“This is what NOOC does. We continue giving support, we continue giving them an ear to listen to. And knowing they’re not alone and we’re here for them, that’s really key. I want to give them inspiration. I want to let them know that any question they may have, it may be silly to somebody else, but to them it’s important. I want them to know that any question or remark, it’s valued.”

Interviewed by Barbara Schuler

‘When I returned to New York, I had a strange twitch in my fingers that wouldn’t go away.’

Elmont

“I journeyed to Sedona, Arizona, to find myself. I decided to visit there after I visited a yoga studio that had these amazing sparkling red rocks on their walls that called to me. When I asked the instructors where the rocks came from, they gave me a book called ‘A Call to Sedona.’ I knew Sedona had a message for me and I had to go there. I had such a unique experience. I sat down in front of a twisted juniper tree on Bell Rock and began praying to God, asking to reveal my purpose. I closed my eyes and meditated and was immediately engulfed in an active vortex. I could see nothing outside of the vortex; it was just me and the juniper tree. I felt scared, but that fear turned into a surreal calm.

I hope to expand my business to continue to beautify the world with art.

“When I opened my eyes, after the vortex ended, I stood up and silently continued to hike. I had a broken toe, but I felt no pain while I was on the rock. Once I made it to the top, I meditated again, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a heart-shaped cloud, the only one in the sky. Upon my descent down the hill, I felt something tell me to stop walking, step backwards and look down. I saw a heart-shaped red rock with crystals growing on it. When I returned to New York, I had a strange twitch in my fingers that wouldn’t go away. It made me feel the urge to paint. I got supplies at Michael’s, and my life was never the same.

“I quit my job and decided to dedicate myself to art full time. These were the messages that led me to start Authentic Heartwork in 2014. I answered that call and self-funded my journey. It was tough and I struggled, but Long Island libraries helped me a lot. I started doing painting classes, and this helped me to develop my skills and build connections. We are currently a vendor with the New York City Department of Education and create murals on school grounds in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. My team and I have also created murals in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. We just recently incorporated glitter and glow-in-the-dark paint in one of our murals at the MS 129 school located in the Bronx. Being a professional artist is very rewarding. I hope to expand my business to continue to beautify the world with art.”

Interviewed by Meagan Meehan

‘I was concerned about these women. When they were released from jail, many of them had no place to go. I wanted to help.’

Glen Cove

“I am a product of the ’60s, a true hippie! I met my husband hitchhiking. We traveled cross-country for three months, and we got married two years later. I was never addicted to hard drugs, but I sure liked getting high! But this life was not for me, and we both found God and he cleaned us up. In 2001, when I was 48, I was asked to speak to women at the Nassau County jail’s Drug, Alcohol, Rehab Treatment program. Most of the women I spoke to were Black and Hispanic. I only mention this because I was white and stood out like a sore thumb and felt I wouldn’t reach them. But they listened to me. It was because I had something to say, because I had something to share. For me, a notoriously shy person, I came out of my shell. I was invited back.

I am so proud to be a part of such important work.

“I was concerned about these women. When they were released from jail, many of them had no place to go. I wanted to help. I went back to college and got my degree in human services management at 53. My husband and I sold our business, his in-laws passed, we came into some money. We decided to buy two adjacent dilapidated houses and, with the help of volunteers, fixed them up. We called our home Living Water for Women, a term from the Bible.

“When the women come to us, they are drug, alcohol tested, and have to follow a curfew. They eat together from Monday to Thursday but are free to cook at other times. We have a morning devotion time, counseling and workshops every afternoon ranging from nutrition, Alcoholics Anonymous, Bible study and job searches. Approximately 250 women have gone through our program. My favorite success story is about a woman who got out of jail with nothing more than a paper bag containing her belongings. She had been incarcerated over 50 times. We gave her, like the others, clothing, toiletries, bedding and self-esteem. When she couldn’t find work, I asked a local business, Sorenson Lumber, to let her volunteer because she was very strong. They hired her, then they paid her, she’s still there and she’s five years sober!

“These women have lived in shame, but I see them as God sees them: with value to do something of value. I am so proud to be a part of such important work.”

Interviewed by Saul Schachter

‘I always find if you train a dog to do tricks, not just train them to sit and stay, but to do tricks, they know how to make you smile.’

Centerport

“I’ve always loved dogs. I grew up in Smithtown; we had an acre of property, really kind of in the sticks right by the Nissequogue River. We always had dogs.

“I always find if you train a dog to do tricks, not just train them to sit and stay, but to do tricks, they know how to make you smile. And that makes them happy that they can make you smile.

“Jilli Dog changed my life. My partner, Judy, found her on the street 24 years ago, and she said you better come get it. Ten minutes later I had this little dog. She was kind of scruffy. I nursed her back to health and taught her to do tricks, I taught her to play poker. She was an amazing dog.

One friend told us she’d suffered from depression her whole life, but when she saw Jilli, it was pure joy.

“About 20 years ago, my friend says we should put a video of her playing poker on YouTube. I said, ‘What’s YouTube?’ It got like 450,000 hits, which in those days was a lot. So many things change your life, but this was monumental.

“My mother was in a nursing home, and I took Jilli in to do tricks, and before you knew it, we had 15 or 20 people watching Jilli do tricks. That was my first entertaining, and I started doing it for other nursing homes and at the VA in Northport.

“Some of the people in the nursing homes would tell their families to come, and someone asked if I could do something at his office. I said sure, and he gave me $50, I didn’t even ask for anything. I did fundraisers for the North Shore Animal League, Little Shelter. Someone else asked if I could do a party, and it just built from there. I made it a little business without even realizing it.

“We had Jilli and we were happy with one dog. We weren’t looking for another dog, but a friend had Spidey, who she called a bad dog. We took her. And then another friend gave us Ruby. She was a wild dog; she couldn’t sit still. People said, you’ll never train that dog, but that energy turned into fun stuff. Now she’s 14 years old, and if I say we’re going to do tricks, she’s like, ‘Let’s go.’

“We performed a lot of places: Las Vegas, Nashville, TV shows. We’ve been on ‘Regis and Kelly,’ ‘Rachael Ray,’ ‘Animal Planet.’ When Jilli died, we put her obituary on Facebook and got more than 1,000 responses. One friend told us she’d suffered from depression her whole life, but when she saw Jilli, it was pure joy.”

Interviewed by Barbara Schuler

‘Everyone deserves a fair chance. We can create the conditions that aren’t keeping the person back.’

Hampton Bays

“I’ve been a Roman Catholic nun for 54 years with the Sisters of Charity Halifax. I worked in Peru for 10 years with women and youth. I’m bilingual, so when I came back I decided to work with immigrants here.

“I’m the executive director of Centro Corazon de Maria, in its twentieth year. We work in Hampton Bays, and there’s a large Latino population that keeps the tourist economy alive.

“We’ve always worked with women and children, but the pandemic was such a shock to see people who were desperate. Many of our folks aren’t eligible for unemployment insurance because they don’t have legal status.

“When there’s human being who can’t pay the rent and their partner’s sick and they have little children, we needed to do something. We received generous donations from different organizations on the East End. Centro Corazon de Maria had the infrastructure already.

“We’ve always focused on women and children with classes in English, nutrition, parenting and workers’ rights, so we knew them. We floated this idea of providing economic support specifically for single mothers with preschool children through the winter and have time to read, talk and play with their children.

“We developed the mothers as protagonist program, Madres Protagonistas. It runs three months, and this will be our third year, and [it] has served 18 mothers and 26 children. It’s based on the principles of family literacy, parent education and empowerment, and is integrated with early childhood education.

“The mothers have to agree to attend two classes a week with their children. It’s so marvelous to see the children responding and growing and to see the mothers growing in confidence. There’s also solidarity with one another, which was very important during the pandemic. All the mothers are working, and this time to spend with their children has been invaluable.

“In Latin America, the word protagonist is about the person making their own decisions, choosing what they want as a priority. They’re protagonists, not survivors or strugglers, so that’s the name of the program. To interact with these young mothers is such a joy. Everyone deserves a fair chance. We can create the conditions that aren’t keeping the person back.”

Interviewed by Liza Burby

‘Being stuck in a bed is awful, especially for a kid. These toys are what make them excited.’

North Babylon

“When I was 4 years old, I got really sick on Christmas Day and had to be rushed to the hospital. I stayed there overnight, and when I woke up in the morning, I received a big bag of toys at the end of my bed from the Child Life Program at Good Samaritan Hospital. I still remember to this day what I got. You never understand how much toys make a difference.

“The next year, I went up to my grandfather and said, ‘Papa, we need to bring some toys to the hospital.’ We got about 20 to 25 toys from family and friends, and we brought them to the hospital. As I started getting older, Emily’s Awesome Toy Drive started growing. We got approved for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for The Emily Meyer Foundation, and here we are.

“Now it’s huge. I’ve donated over 17,000 over the life of the drive, and I’m happy to keep doing it. We don’t just do it during the holiday season. We do it all year round, which I do like because it gets some of the toys out and some of the hospitals do run out.

“After the holidays, there’s Easter, Passover and birthdays all year round, and you still want to keep the kids entertained. The main ages that we receive toys are about 5 to 12. So a lot of dolls, cars, crafts and stuff like that. I’ll get the donations to my house or pick up the toys, pack them into these big bags, load them in the car and then go to the hospitals, company or organization. Some people do like to donate money — which we’re very appreciative of — and that’ll go mainly to buying toys or bags to package my toys.

“It’s just really a great feeling knowing that I have the ability to do this because when you take a minute to think about it, being in the hospital kind of stinks.

“Being stuck in a bed is awful, especially for a kid. These toys are what make them excited. It helps their mood boost and feel better because it distracts them from the pain. Toys can even be seen as a reward after they get a treatment.

“So, when they’re able to receive something that I’ve donated, even if it’s just a puzzle or a coloring book, being able to give back and make these kids just a little bit happier, I know is something they look forward to so much. The fact that I help with that joy or happiness makes my heart warm.”

Interviewed by Victoria Bell

‘My book lets people know that you can find ways to celebrate the people you lost in an honest way for children.’

Babylon

“I was devastated when I lost my grandfather in the sixth grade. I didn’t handle his death well. Now that I teach sixth grade, I realize that it’s confusing if no one is talking to you about the process. I lost my other grandfather when I was in 10th grade and I wasn’t sent to his funeral; I had no closure.

“When I was 19, my grandmother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She helped raise me because my mom had Guillain-Barre syndrome and was crippled. My grandmother changed my thoughts on death.

“She said, ‘This is my time, and I’m not scared because I know I’m going to a better place.’ I was in college and had lost one of the people closest in the world to me. I remember her saying, ‘Someday you’re going to tell your story.’ She planted a seed.

“When my mom passed, I had two young children, and my older daughter had questions. Many books on grieving use metaphors, but children don’t understand metaphors. I was simple and honest with them.

“Later on, I thought I’d therapeutically write my story for my family. I was connected with an illustrator, but I knew it was going to be difficult to get a publisher. I thought I’d self-publish. It took us a long time. There came a point where I gave up.

“In the height of COVID, I checked my email by chance, and there was a note from Amazon saying, ‘Your book has been published!’ A colleague caught on at school and ‘Little Lucy May’s Loss’ got even bigger.

“Now I have sold copies in Europe and the U.K., which is surreal. Sometimes as adults we want to fix everything. It’s OK to react because emotions are normal. I’ve learned that we need to teach children to feel all the feels, but you can’t hold on to feelings forever. I’m finding that these small wounds shape who we are and how we react as we get older.

“It’s important to let children know that it’s OK to be sad. My story goes through talking about the person to keep them in your memory. The book lets people know that you can find ways to celebrate the people you lost in an honest way for children.

“No matter how big or small your grief, it doesn’t need to be compared to anybody else’s. Everybody’s heart is different. It’s also important to listen to kids. They have big things to say.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener