32 APRIL 13 - APRIL 19, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
VICTORIA’S
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
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The Grandchildren
Go to Washington
Last week was a school holiday, and
it was fun for me and my daughter
Samantha’s kids. We had a “Kids Day”
for a fun Thursday at my offi ce and
Samantha was off to Washington, D.C.,
with her kids. My daughter is a good
planner so several months ago she began
by working with a wonderful travel
agent she saw advertising in my Long
Island Press, who ended up helping her
plan all the details for the four days she
was in D.C .
If you’ve been there, you know there
are dozens of remarkable, noteworthy
sites to see and it’s easy to waste time
and energy navigating the beautiful,
historic city.
Odellia Fischer of Take OFF Travel
(www.takeoff concierge.com) planned
the trip, guiding them to tour the White
House, Congress, the breathtaking
monuments, the Newseum and the new
FBI Experience. She scheduled tours
and made restaurant reservations to
highlight the best D.C. had.
When Samantha told me she wanted
to take the kids to the White House, I
called Congressman Tom Suozzi who
put his staff on acquiring tickets to this
controlled venue. Wherever you live,
your congressman gets tickets, so ask!
The city was “alight” with gorgeous,
abundant cherry blossom trees in their
full glory. It’s my favorite time of year to
be in D.C. It tickled me that, of all the sites
they visited during their time there, they
loved the Newseum most!
Blake, 12, and his sister Morgan, 8,
and Brody, 12, became TV
newscasters. Blake admitted
to me it took do-overs for
hours and they had a barrel
of bloopers, but fi nally got it
right. They sat professionally
and assuredly at a news desk
and had a TV monitor behind
them. It was their favorite
“hands-on” exhibit and they
ended up being there for most
of the day.
So the lesson is, you need a
plan but you’ve got to go with
the fl ow and be fl exible for a
fabulous trip.
Riva Blekhman, 92, Remembered
Lena Briskin of Alicia’s
Jewelers in
the Bay Terrace
Shopping Center
lost her mom Riva
Blekhman on April 5,
2018. She was born on
Aug. 27 1926 in Odessa,
Ukraine, and died from
complications from infections
from years of Alzheimer’s disease
and Parkinson’s disease.
She was remembered with
many tears by her daughter
Lena, granddaughter Alicia and
grandson Robert.
They recalled for the packed
audience of grievers the unique
qualities of their ancestor.
Riva escaped her beloved
Odessa, having been a teacher
and her husband a lawyer, on
the Lenin, the last ship to leave
the port safely.
After surviving the
war, the family made
their way to America.
At 55 years of age, she
became a bookkeeper
but left her job to
raise Alicia, who was
on her birthday. Then,
when Bobby was born,
she became his second mother
so her daughter Lena could work.
I loved how Bobby shared that
his grandma woke him up every
morning with a song and led him
to the bathroom because his eyes
were sealed with sleep.
Her love, determination, courage,
strength and intelligence
made her their role model.
For many years, she helped
her daughter and son-in-law
Michael Briskin run their
successful jewelry store, open
seven days a week.
They all said adversity in her
earlier life had made her a stronger
person. “Now, having had a
colossal impact on our lives, she
is with the angels in heaven,”
they said.
The service was officiated
in Russian and English in the
beautiful voice of cantor Sergei
Schwartz of Temple Sinai in
Roslyn. The funeral was held at
Sinai Chapels and internment
was at Mount Carmel cemetery
in Glendale.
They have asked as an expression
of sympathy to send
a donation to the Alzheimer’s
Foundation, 322 Eighth Avenue,
seventh fl oor, New York, NY; 866-
232-8484; alzfd.org.
Riva is survived by Lena and
Michael Briskin, and her grandchildren
Alicia and Robert and
two great-grandchildren.
Ali
link
link
/www.takeoffconcierge.com