‘My father was always supportive of me and the best coach I had in life and in baseball.’

Ronkonkoma

“Back in 2009, when the country was in an economic recession, I was let go from my job. I was with that company for 10 years. A few months later, my father died of cancer. We knew it was coming, but we just didn’t expect him to go as soon as he did. It was a very difficult time, especially for my mother. There are still parts of the house she won’t touch, like the baseball and basketball trophies.

“My father would have my back no matter what I was doing. My father was always supportive of me and the best coach I had in life and in baseball. He coached me through Little League baseball. He would put his arm around me, pat me on the back and give me a hug. We even played together on the same softball team for a few years. He was very athletic and youthful for his age. He was 63 years old when he passed away, and up until the time of his diagnosis, he was playing basketball three nights a week with local guys in their 30s.

When I told my mother about the fundraising, she started getting choked up. She told me that my father would be so proud of me.

“He was actually diagnosed with cancer through a basketball injury. He got elbowed in the ribs and didn’t think much of it. After 10 days, the pain still wasn’t going away, so he went to the doctor. He thought it was just a bruise. They took an X-ray and found a mass on his lung. The doctor told him to thank the guy who elbowed him because he extended my father’s life by about two years. If he never got it checked out, he would have only lived about another three months.

“A few months before my father passed away, Tom — my cousin through marriage — and I launched our business, Hoopla Doopla, together. Tom and I are the tech gurus in the family. I was building and managing websites for a living. My cousin was a programmer. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial passion, and so we put our ideas together to create a bargain-hunting website.

“In honor of my father, I launched a program within the business to raise money for cancer. We donated part of our profits to the American Cancer Society in my father’s name. We had this going for over three years and raised tens of thousands of dollars. When I told my mother about the fundraising, she started getting choked up. She told me that my father would be so proud of me.”

‘When we do find evidence of the paranormal, people also tend to feel a sense of relief. People think, “Well, at least now I know I’m not crazy.”’

Ronkonkoma

“A lot of times when we do paranormal house investigations, you have a family who’s really scared, and they have nobody to turn to. If you suspect paranormal activity, you can’t call the cops or the fire department, you know? They contact us, and we come in and do our thing, and they’re thankful for it.

“Long Island Paranormal Investigators started when the co-founder and I decided to look up all the different urban legends on Long Island, like Sweet Hollow Road and Kings Park Psychiatric Center. Then we found out that they sell equipment that goes along with some of the paranormal theories. The whole goal was to go out and see if people were really experiencing things at these locations, or is it just all a hoax?

“My favorite house investigation turned out not to be paranormal, which is crazy because people are like, ‘Why is that your favorite case? You’re a paranormal investigator.’ There was this kid who was having nightmares and screaming every night. We came and we investigated with an electromagnetic-field sweep of the whole house.

“While we were investigating, the needle started spinning by the kid’s bed. When we looked underneath his bed, there was a Star Wars light saber, a toy that was just shooting off high electromagnetic waves between 100-199. The normal levels are below two. High levels of EMF can cause hallucinations, fatigue, depression and feelings of being watched. And this kid was being affected by it.

“We removed the toy and told the family we’ll come back in two weeks. Sure enough, we came back two weeks later; he had been able to sleep in his bed ever since.

“And when we do find evidence of the paranormal, people also tend to feel a sense of relief. People think, ‘Well, at least now I know I’m not crazy,’ and the next step usually is, ‘You caught something. Get rid of it.’ But it’s not like “Ghostbusters,” where we bring a trap and shoot the thing. We normally do a cleansing, which depends on the beliefs of the client.

“The goal now is trying to make this field kind of more known and accepted. There is a real science to the paranormal. That’s what the group means to me. I want what we’re doing to push this field it to the next level. I want the next generation to come could kind of look back on all the reporting we did and say ‘Hey, that’s the right way to do it.’”

Interviewed by Maggie Melito

‘If it wasn’t for my art, I don’t think I would be alive today.’

Ronkonkoma

“I am an artist who shouldn’t be alive. In 2013, I survived a car crash on the Southern State Parkway where my car was hit, went airborne, spun and landed on the grass median, only to be hit for a second time by the same car on the driver-side door.

“I survived the accident, but I suffered memory loss, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and permanent disabilities. Art has helped me heal. If it wasn’t for my art, I don’t think I would be alive today. I’ve always been a creative person.

“I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. I received a BFA in textile/surface design and was classically trained in watercolor gouache. I got a great job in Manhattan.

“The TBI affected my job because I simply couldn’t translate what was in my head onto paper. I eventually had to give up my career. In December of 2018, I decided to dive back into art. I brought an easel, a canvas, oil paints and brushes and started painting over my accident report and doctor’s notes. It was very therapeutic.

“From there, I started painting with acrylic paints, and I then discovered alcohol ink, which produces such vivid and saturated colors. One day, I got frustrated and set a piece of yupo paper on fire. Instead of burning like normal paper, it started to mold itself into a three-dimensional shape. This appealed to me, and I started creating three-dimensional sculptural wall hangings.

“As I created pieces, I went into a meditative state and my memories — which had been lost during the accident — started coming back to me! I started calling this series of work my ‘Hearts’ because they kind of look like hearts, and they helped me recover my memories, essentially bringing pieces of my heart back to me.

“I can say things through creating that I can’t express in words, and it has also helped me find a community of likeminded people. In September of 2022, I entered a juried art show at the Babylon Arts Council, where I won first place and third place for sculpture.

“It’s wonderful to have my work recognized, as I’m still getting used to being called an artist, because I primarily do this for my mental health. I’m just happy that my work connects with people and brings them joy.”

Interviewed by Meagan Meehan

‘I decided to prove to myself and my children that I could make my dreams come true and become a professional author.’

Ronkonkoma

“Growing up, I always wanted to write stories. Initially, I thought I would write the next Great American Novel, but then I realized that I was more drawn to comics. I have been obsessed with comics since 1993, when ‘The Death of Superman’ came out. I made my parents take me to every comic-book store on Long Island, but everyplace was sold out for weeks. Then I finally found a copy at a newsstand.

“I graduated from college in 2010. The job market was bad, but I managed to secure a position as a waiter at Ruby Tuesday. My friend, Brian, worked alongside me, and we created comics to keep ourselves sane. Then life got in the way. I found a better job as a client executive at a software company, I got married, and I had children. I didn’t start writing again until the pandemic hit in 2020. It was then that I decided to prove to myself and my children that I could make my dreams come true and become a professional author. I wrote several short comic stories and got them included in anthologies. To date, I have about 15 stories published in anthologies that are on sale at 4th World Comics in Smithtown.

“While I have always been interested in writing superhero stories, about half of my stories are in the horror genre. I write what I know, so family life, especially the relationship between fathers and children, is a central theme in a lot of my work. My oldest son inspired one of my most popular stories, ‘Dinner with Blobby,’ since he’s such a picky eater! Inspiration can come from anywhere. I should mention that I’m strictly a writer; the story was illustrated by a very talented artist named Don Cardenas and accepted into the ‘Nightmare Theater’ anthology published by Bloodline Comics. I’m eternally grateful to publisher Clay Adams, who took a chance on my work. My favorite story is ‘The Curse of the Egg Yolk,’ which involves a pandemic, fathers, sons and the legend of Humpty Dumpty. In the future, I would like to create and produce my own full-length comic book. I want to show my children what you can achieve when you dare to follow your dreams.”

Interviewed by Meagan Meehan

‘I was really frustrated, lonely and trying to find a support group. I thought, “There’s got to be people out there like me. I can’t be the only one.”’

Ronkonkoma

“My husband was in the NYPD during 9/11 and spent three months after it down on the pile digging. He was a healthy guy that worked out seven days a week. He retired in 2009, and by 2013, all the health issues started. He had gotten an aggressive jaw tumor. That was a huge operation where they had to remove his entire lower jaw and reconstruct it. It was intense. In addition to the cancer, he has a list of other health issues: heart failure, lung issues and neurological issues. They diagnosed him with Parkinson’s, but they don’t know if that’s an accurate diagnosis, and they might never know.

“Over the years, it was very difficult for me and the kids to deal with a dad who was no longer the dad they knew. He changed tremendously. When he first retired, the kids were little, and he would take them to the movies and aquarium, but slowly, the PTSD and depression set in. They’ve truly only known their dad as being sick and not working.

“In 2015, I thought we should move to Texas since I had family there. It was the biggest disaster move we ever made. He wasn’t a fan of going to begin with, but he did it for us, for his family. When we got there, he was absolutely miserable. The PTSD kicked in. Thinking that you can change somebody’s environment and make them feel better doesn’t work. I learned that the hard way. Things got really bad, and we ended up moving back to New York within the year.

“When I came back, I was really frustrated, lonely and trying to find a support group. I thought, ‘There’s got to be people out there like me. I can’t be the only one.’ I started a Facebook group called Wives of 9/11 Survivors in February 2016. As soon as I created the group, I was getting requests from other women to join. The way it grew was shocking to me and made me realize how much it was needed. There’s 185 women in the group now. Surprisingly, one of the very first women who joined the group had a husband that had the same surgery my husband had. I never thought I’d meet someone who went through the exact same thing I went through. There was another woman who has become a second mother to me. When I met her, we became close very quickly. I tell her everything.

There are things I never told my best friend or my parents, yet I’ll tell someone in the group who maybe I never even met. This group saved my life.

“A lot of women started joining and saying, ‘Where has this group been?’ Nobody understands what it’s like unless they live it. Walking into the recovery room and seeing your husband on a ventilator, with a feeding tube, getting a tracheotomy, you aren’t prepared for that. No one understands. No one knows we’re out here struggling. We are trying to raise kids who were affected by their parents’ physical and mental health. It really does take a toll on the entire family. I call it the trickle-down effect because even though my kids weren’t born when 9/11 happened, it’s affected their entire life. It’s very difficult to navigate. I want to say there are good days and bad days, but most days, it’s a really dark hole that a lot of them are in – not just my husband.

“In the group, it’s not just firemen and police officers, but we have women whose husbands were sanitation, EMS, Verizon workers. It’s not just the guys who were there that day and digging, but also the guys who came after that had to rebuild by putting up phone lines, plumbing, all different unions. It’s not an easy life. People don’t really understand. The focus has always been on the person who’s sick. How are they doing? What’s going on with them? Nobody realizes that we, the wives, have to handle life as well. My goal has always been to find other women out there who are alone because they don’t know about the group. It’s just like any other support group. We all get each other. We all understand there is a darkness that we don’t talk about with anybody else. There are things I never told my best friend or my parents, yet I’ll tell someone in the group who maybe I never even met.

“This group saved my life. I was able to connect these women who were extremely lonely and depressed and felt hopeless. I gave them a place to feel safe, to share their feelings. There are people who just come to this group to feel like everything’s going to be OK. We all support each other no matter where we are in this journey. We do try to get together once a year. We haven’t been able to get together recently because of COVID, but we hope to get together soon. We’re always open and welcoming more to join.”

Interviewed by Hannah Fusaro

‘Instead of doing dumb things in the streets, I would just focus on my craft.’

Ronkonkoma

“I grew up in Central Islip, and I was always into art. Down the block from my house were an abandoned power plant and a psychiatric center. It was covered in graffiti, and I found a can on the floor, and I used it to write my name on the wall. Ever since that day, I fell in love with the medium of aerosol art.

“In ninth grade, my mom bought me an airbrush kit, and I started airbrushing my sneakers and clothing. Somebody started ordering shirts from me, which sparked my entrepreneurial journey. It got so crazy that I would be late for every class because I was taking everybody’s orders. I got in trouble with the principal, but they ended up giving me the school store to take orders.

“Growing up in my neighborhood, you can easily get caught up in the wrong crowd; a lot of my friends were getting kicked out of school or locked up. My escape from reality was art. Instead of doing dumb things in the streets, I would just focus on my craft. As soon as I graduated, I opened up a store in the Bay Shore mall, then Smith Haven and Roosevelt Field malls. I did that for a decade. Then Amazon became more present and the mall traffic died. It was a rough time, but I never gave up on my dream.

We’re showing the public that it started in the street, but you could take it wherever you have to go.

“I started teaching in the city. I was getting grants from Carnegie Hall and would run art entrepreneur workshops. I fell in love with helping troubled youth who needed direction and reminded me of myself. With my experience from teaching and running a business, I opened up my studio in Holtsville, Graff Lab Studio. After putting a lot of money into it, the pandemic happened. It was terrible. The whole year was just me there doing commission work, a few orders, but I didn’t open it to do that.

“We opened to teach, have an art school and do birthday parties. The internet got cut off, and I’m like, maybe this is not the right time. And then a few mom groups caught on to it, and it started blowing up as the world opened back up. It’s different from any other art studio because we’re teaching street art, graffiti and fashion. There’s a stigma when it comes to that kind of art. We’re showing the public that it started in the street, but you could take it wherever you have to go.”

Interviewed by Hannah Fusaro

‘My goal is to be able to continually give back to nurses because I don’t want people to forget what nurses did.’

Ronkonkoma

“I was an actress for many years before I became a nurse, but I always had this push to go into medicine. I’m Shinnecock, and my great-aunt was a World War II nurse who founded the first aid station on the reservation, so I just felt a connection to that and knew I wanted to do something medical.

“I went to Nassau Community College, became a nurse, and then started my career in a hospital. Most of the groups on Facebook were general nursing across the country—I couldn’t communicate with anybody who was from Long Island. My friend, who is an LPN, and I decided to make this Facebook group: Long Island Nurses. We started at 100 people, then 500, 1000, and it really started to ramp up. I noticed more recruiters were coming in and people started getting jobs, communicating, and I wanted the group to continue and not die out. I started to say, ‘You know what? I have this gift card … I’m going to put it in the group and give it away to someone.’ I love giving away stuff! So, every couple of months I would do a giveaway.

We need people to say, ‘We’re here for you. Here’s a scholarship. Here’s a car for two years. Here’s something to take the burden off you so you don’t have to worry about that one thing.’

“Then, during the pandemic, I had a surgery that didn’t go well and became very ill. I ended up in the hospital and saw the nurses and how hard they were working. Once I started to heal, I went around to different locations, like restaurants, and asked, ‘Would you be willing to donate a gift card to my group?’ And I got all these gift cards. Thousands worth. It was really fun. We raised $500 for a scholarship and the person who got it was going for her bachelor’s. So, then I was like, ‘Why don’t I go nonprofit?’

“I finally got my charity designation, so now my goal is to be able to continually give back to nurses because I don’t want people to forget what nurses did. They’re the ones who are having PTSD, who are crying. We need people to say, ‘We’re here for you. Here’s a scholarship. Here’s a car for two years. Here’s something to take the burden off you so you don’t have to worry about that one thing.’ That’s what I’m trying to do. I would love to see this take on a life of its own. It really makes me excited because I feel like we could grow in the future, get to more nurses, and continue giving to the people who deserve it the most.”

Interviewed by Jay Max

‘The biggest thing for us was that they couldn’t promise she would ever leave the hospital. We said, ‘how is that fair to a child who deserves the best, if she could never come home and have that with us?’

Ronkonkoma

“We found out I was pregnant in March of 2017. Everything was going pretty good. There were no indications anything was wrong. When I went for my anatomy scan, they had seen some things that were kind of concerning. We met with the doctor after the ultrasounds and they had seen a growth on her neck. They knew it was growing and with that came complications. If it was the better case of scenarios, it would be a high-risk pregnancy, but she would come home and live a fairly normal life.

“It ended up not being the better case. It ended up being a cervical lymphangioma. It was growing into the lymph nodes and muscles and tissues around her neck.

“My husband and I looked at each other in that meeting and knew what we were going to do, even though we didn’t say the words yet. The biggest thing for us was that they couldn’t promise she would ever leave the hospital. We said, how is that fair to a child who deserves the best, if she could never come home and have that with us?

I decided every year around her due date, I would offer sessions to other parents who lost a child.

“Being a newborn photographer, that wasn’t something I wanted to go back to right away. When I went back, we had to share what happened with everyone, it wasn’t something we could hide. In the long run, it helped me heal. It’s helped me become an advocate for child loss and infant loss. I decided every year around her due date, I would offer sessions to other parents who lost a child. It allows me to talk about my daughter and them to talk about their children. I know how much it means to them.

“I found out I was having my daughter Morgan on Nov. 27, when Amelia would have been born Nov. 28. Morgan came Aug. 13, about three weeks after Amelia had her first birthday. I suffered greatly from postpartum depression for about four months. I think losing Amelia and getting pregnant so quickly, there was guilt, grief and it was hard to bond. I didn’t feel what everyone said I would feel. There was a lot of going through the motions and coming to terms with those feelings. It’s not that I didn’t love her, it was just hard to get out of that fog. But I’ll never forget when Morgan turned four weeks old and she smiled for the first time. It was like nothing else mattered.”

‘I think everyone has a gift, and no matter what, you should always do your gift. Maybe you won’t make it big, but at least you will make it big in your heart and your own mind.’

Ronkonkoma

“At 12 years old, I taught myself how to play piano. I always loved music. In the ninth grade, I played keyboard and sang in my first band, Blitzkrieg. At around 19, I was playing at local Long Island clubs and bars constantly. I was the manager of the band and kept us very busy because I wanted to pursue music while I was still young. My brother and I used to paint cars in a garage, so I worked as a teacher’s aide in an auto body class while playing in a group called The Teachers. When I was playing in clubs, my life got a little crazy. There was alcohol and the atmosphere was wild. I did things that I regret, but two things remained a constant: music and my association with the Lord.

The Christian music got me out of the clubs, and my love for my wife encouraged me to work for a living.

“In my mid-20s, I began teaching myself chords on the guitar. My friend and I would write Christian songs, just two guitars and singing harmony. The Christian music got me out of the clubs, and my love for my wife encouraged me to work for a living. I started working with electronic factories which kept me employed for more than 20 years, at the tail end of which I saw the business fall apart. I was laid off at least five times from different jobs. My two beautiful daughters were young, so I was always working part-time jobs after work to support my family, but I was still playing music. I went to Alabama’s Civic Center with a gospel group and played to 500 people.

“At 49, I was out of work for eight months. I was really persistent in applying to work with the LIRR. I had to pass rigorous tests, including an electronics test and a physical. I was 50, so it wasn’t easy. It was challenging to learn the entire signaling system after not having been in school in 30 years. Now I’ve been a signalman for 17 years, and I’ve also been serving the Lord at churches and playing Christian music for almost 40 years. I’ve grown from it because it helps me to try to be a better human being in a world that sees a lot of unkind people. I think everyone has a gift, and no matter what, you should always do your gift. Maybe you won’t make it big, but at least you will make it big in your heart and your own mind.”