C R Y D E R P O I N T SEPTEMBER 6 CRYDER POINT COMMUNITY ICONS: A Tribute to Marion and Harry Rosenberg If ever a place of residence has transcended to community, that place is Cryder Point. Many of you know this, some of you may be sensing it... and others of us who were raised here and have kept coming back to visit have had that perception ripen with time. In any community, there are certain members who give it extra definition, character, and soul. Harry and Marion Rosenberg were two of those people, and it is my privilege as their daughter to pay tribute to them here, in the place they loved so much. In late 1968, then pregnant with me, Marion and Harry stumbled upon Cryder Point. Living in Manhattan at the time, they figured this might be a nice transitional place before moving on to the requisite house in the suburbs. That transition never happened. When they moved into apartment 2P in the 01 building, it was hard for them as a young couple to imagine how they would fill such a spacious apartment, to which my dad suggested they just AstroTurf the living room and set up a volleyball court (the volleyball net didn’t happen, but our mom’s love of green and yellow did lead us to a lifetime of deep green carpeting). I was born in the spring, my brother Robert two years later, and Cryder Point became our family home, as it is to us to this day. Through the 1970s our family built many friendships here, with many of the other families who had also found Cryder Point, and also wonderfully more eclectic ones, from our thennext door neighbors the Angrists, a famed forensic pathologist (pre-”CSI”) and his lovely wife, to my brother’s friendship with Paul, the senior citizen who walked and swam miles and scored all of us kids on our diving. Then, as it would seem now, summers at the pool were a galvanizing force. Back then the lounge chairs were big wooden redwoods that required dragging vinyl mattresses with leafy prints from a stack by the front gate to your chair, and chairs were assigned (we had the two right by the stairs down to the filter room. Those mats were excellent for building forts too). By the way, there was a kiddie sprinkler pool then, the shed was a concession stand with a grill, there was a real beach that people used, and the playground was twice the size but equipped in a way that would make modern parents shudder. Around 1980, the world of New York real estate was fast moving toward conversion of rental properties to cooperatives. This is when my dad’s affection for Cryder Point and its residents merged with his background as a real estate attorney, and he quickly assumed the leadership role in guiding Cryder Point through this seminal time in its history. While Harry was the first Cryder Point president, it often felt he was more of a mayor. He was known for the way he would make his rounds at the pool, stopping and talking to just about everyone, always offering to help. In that time, if Harry was indeed like the mayor, our mother Marion - always friendly and gregarious - was just as happy to assume more of the role of mayor’s wife. That all changed when our dad Harry died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 54. During the difficult aftermath, not only did she demonstrate a tenacity that amazed, she gradually began to assume some of his qualities, along with her own (more vocally boasting about her children, and later her grandchildren, for instance). Ultimately however, it was their shared interest in all people - as uncommon as it was totally genuine - that so defined them both. As such, in the 24 years since, Marion turned into somewhat of a Cryder Point icon in her own right. Marion loved Cryder Point. She loved her green and yellow apartment (in the 21 building for the past 17 years). And she loved its people. She was incapable of having anything other than a personal relationship, equally if not more interested in really knowing every 6 cryder point courier | SEPTEMBER 2013 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM doorman (all of whom were wonderful to her, in turn) and every lifeguard as well as those her age, or older... or much younger... including the kids of Cryder Point’s newest residents. She became the one to make those famous pool loops, finding endless fascination in the life stories of others - and rewarding them in turn with her over-the-top yet authentic enthusiasm and positive outlook on life. That positive outlook endured no matter what life threw at her. And it threw quite a bit. Over the past 16 years Marion was dealt a series of dramatic health challenges that defied logic or comprehensible connection to her hearty, vibrant being. In the way she faced them, with not a trace of selfpity, and as a model for how to live by what was her life motto, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” she became something she would never have expected of herself: an inspiration. Marion always did things in a way that was uniquely her own, from what she wore, to how she brilliantly practiced speech pathology, using her own music therapy as a gateway to reach children with autism, to how she guided our lives and lived her own. After conquering so much, Marion ultimately succumbed to complications from uterine cancer on August 10 at the age of 73. For nearly 14 years, she drove herself to Long Island Jewish Hospital for treatment (of the first cancer with which she had been diagnosed), and true to form, the best part of that experience for her over these years was being greeted with a smile (and eventually hugs) by the oncology parking attendants. The human connections that fueled Marion in every other part of her life became a key part of making the experience of cancer treatment bearable. For this reason, we have chosen that any donations in her memory would be best directed to support oncology hospitality services (and specifically the special oncology valet parking) at LIJ. Donations can be made at: support. northshorelij.com. Those interested should designate Marion Rosenberg as the honoree and in the notes section, kindly specify: “to support oncology hospitality/parking.” Alternatively, checks can be made payable to North Shore LIJ Health System Foundation and mailed to: 125 Community Drive, Great Neck, NY 11021 (with the same notes above). We feel she would love both the quirkiness and true meaning in this choice. The poet Maya Angelou once wrote: “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The impact Harry and Marion Rosenberg had on the lives of her immediate family and friends is as profound as it is indelible. And, if Maya Angelou’s words are accurate, then Harry and Marion will never be forgotten by so many -- at Cryder Point, and beyond. Donation Information in Memory of Marion Rosenberg Donations can be made to support hospitality services for oncology patients, and specifically the valet parking, which proved to be such a humane gateway to the experience of being treated for cancer, that meant so much to her. To donate: • Visit support.northshorelij.com • Please designate Marion Rosenberg as the honoree and in the notes section specify "to support oncology hospitality/parking" • If sending a check, please include details above, and make payable to North ShoreLIJ Health System Foundation at 125 Community Drive, Great Neck, NY, 11021. Your caring and generosity is deeply appreciated by the family.
CP092013
To see the actual publication please follow the link above