42 MAY 11 - MAY 17, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
My Mom Bea Adler — I Miss Her
VICTORIA’S
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPS-
YUNIS
vschneps@gmail.com
tweet me @vschneps
It still feels strange to go down the
card aisle filled with Mother’s Day
cards at CVS and realize that I don’t
have a mother to buy one for. I know
I could buy one for my daughters or
my daughter-in-law but it’s just not the
same feeling. I miss my mom.
Many friends and colleagues ask me
what vitamins and food I eat to have so
much energy. I certainly take my fair
collection of vitamins every morning
and never miss a meal. (Maybe that’s
why I’m a card-carrying Weight
Watcher — to little success.) My energy
comes from my mom’s DNA; she had
an endless source of strength.
I think I also got my ability to lead
from my mom. After all, as far back as
I can remember, she was president of
the PTA, my class mother and my Girl
Scout leader. I have a great photo of her
in her Girl Scout leader’s hat and dress.
She was a leader her whole life and I
learned by watching.
She was a survivor also, having
crossed the European continent at
age 2 on the shoulders of her
13-year-old brother,
leaving Kiev
for America
on the heels of
the charging
Cossacks. Her
love of family
was endless
and I think that
love sustained me
through her whole
life and beyond. I
miss her and I know
how proud she was
of all I did.
When I was head over heels in
love with my jock boyfriend
in my first year at an outof
town college, she
knew he was wrong
for me. It took an
intervention
from both my
parents, who
convinced me
they simply
couldn’t afford my
brother’s tuition
and mine away from
home so I’d have to
transfer to NYU. Little
did I know the costs
were really the same!
But with many tears I
left Ray Kells and the
University of Rhode
Island behind and
began my next
life. It took a year
of tears but, in
the end, my
mom was
right. Before
long, I met
my future
husband and
four children
later....
I miss my
mom.
She had other qualities I also cherish.
When my brother or my children
went “rogue” on me, I can hear her
words, “Keep the door open.” I have
lived that advice and how wise it was,
because I learned it’s okay to get angry
or disappointed but never close the
door on your loved ones.
I miss my mom.
My mom was always there through
the trauma of my first born child Lara
turning blue in the nursery and her
needing enormous support for the 17
years of her life. When I started Life’s
WORC, born out of Lara’s needs, my
mom was there creating aquarium
planters to raise money for my cause,
attending all my fundraisers including
one in Madison Square Garden starring
John Lennon and Yoko Ono, where
she sat among the marijuana-smoking
massive crowd. She also visited Lara
religiously every week while she was
in Willowbrook on Staten Island.
I miss my mom.
She was there when I started The
Queens Courier, always available as
my safety net. I knew I was protected
if I failed. She inspired me and gave
me my courage to carry on no matter
where life led me.
I miss my mom.
We laughed that, as she got older and
weaker, she lived my life vicariously. I
often say she is still with me, sitting like
a beautiful butterfly, on my shoulder,
watching me and protecting me.
After all, a mom is a mom forever,
and I miss mine!
A Superhero at 4 Years Old
My favorite Sunday morning activity is sitting in bed with the Sunday
papers sprawled around me and a cup of coffee as I watch “CBS Sunday
Morning,” a show of brilliantly crafted segments. This Sunday
had one about a loving little boy from Alabama who is a 4-year-old superhero.
“President Austin,” as he calls himself, feeds the homeless. His dad and he
had been watching a segment about a baby panda who was separated from his
mom and became homeless. He asked his dad if that happens to humans and
when he was told yes, he decided he wanted to help them.
Taking his allowance and the money that he knew his dad would spend on
toys for him, he decided, as “President Austin,” that he would feed them. So
his dad, in awe of his little superhero son, went along and helped him take to
the streets in a superhero outfit printed with the words “Show Love.”
As the boy handed the chicken sandwiches to homeless people, he said,
“Show love,” and in most cases, they returned his act of kindness with hugs
and awe that a true superhero had come into their lives.
I thought of my grandchildren and how much they have and how big their
hearts are, too. Just recently, 6-year-old Addy saw an ad on TV for St. Jude’s
Children’s Hospital and decided she would raise money for them. She called
her relatives and raised $250. Child power!
Photo via Facebook/Austin Perine
Superhero Austin Perine with his father and CBS News’ Steve
Hartman.