Living In Florida During the Pandemic - A Story of Resilience
BY BOBBY GOULD
PRESIDENT, NST WOMEN’S CLUB
At the end of February, North Shore
Towers Women’s Club South met at
the Morikami Museum in Florida. We
spent a lovely day touring the museum and
gardens, eating bento boxes and enjoying each
other’s company. A short time later the world
turned upside down--the pandemic struck.
We were social distancing, wearing masks
and gloves and staying home. The clubhouse of
the community I live in closed its doors and all
activities stopped. The kitchen prepared take out.
We put our orders in and they put the meals in
the trunk of our cars. Everything was carefully
washed and in our kitchens we threw out the
outer bags. Only people who lived in the club
could enter the gates except essential personnel.
The only direct contact I had with my friends was
to go for a walk six feet apart, wearing our masks.
During this time one of my good friends
had her 90th birthday. First we all attend-ed
a zoom party from our own houses. Her
son in Washington, DC, her son in the state
of Washington and her daughter in London,
England, set it all up. Everyone talked about
their wonderful relationships with Rita and we
all had little pictures of each other on the screen
as we joined the celebration. Next, a small group
of us met in her garage for a surprise party, six
feet apart, and sang happy birthday over the
cake.
One night, in the middle of the pandemic, I
woke up with chest pain, pressure and difficulty
breathing. Early in the morning I called an ambu-lance.
It was particularly difficult because all of
my relatives are in New York and my friends
couldn’t be with me. The paramedics were won-derful
and so many tests were done on the way to
the hospital. Suddenly, while in the ambulance,
the pain stopped completely and I was peacefully
floating in the clouds with a bright sky. Loud
voices woke me up as people came running
out of the emergency room and the pain came
back. Someone whispered to me that you do
not have covid but you have a heart blockage
and you need immediate surgery. I was rushed
to the ICU and into the operating room for a
temporary pacemaker, followed by a permanent
one the next day. It was scary to be hospitalized
just when covid patients were everywhere, but at
least I was never near them. Somehow I found
the strength to make it through--the word that
best described the experience was resilience.
I recovered well and then felt a strong need to
see my family. The doctors told me I could not
fly on a regular plane and I could not go by car. I
was able to locate a group of women who hired
a private plane--8 seats and one was empty. I
was fearful of flying in such a small jet. I took a
bonine pill which made me very sleepy. Suddenly
I heard the pilot announce that we would be
landing in 20 minutes. I looked out the window
and there on the tarmac was my son, wearing
a mask and waving to me. He and his wife had
stocked my refrigerator with lots of food.
As I walked into North Shore Towers the con-cierge
told me I will be quarantined for 2 weeks
and if I do not follow the rules I will be fined
$2,000 by the state. Under my mask I laughed
with glee-this would be the least problem after
all I had experienced. Resilience!
BY KAREN PERRY
You can set your watch by it:
Every evening at 7:00 PM
sharp the rattling of pots
and pans begins. It is followed by
applause, loud whistling and cheer-ing
voices. A grateful city celebrates
its first responders.
There is no clanging cookware,
cat calls or loud roaring voices here
at North Shore Towers. But one of
our residents, Shelley Kossover, has
designed a unique, heartfelt gift to
thank these dedicated, exceptional
medical professionals.
A member of our Knit and
Crochet Club, Shelley raises sig-nificant
funds for the organization
by making and selling bear dolls.
However, these are not your run
of the mill dolls. They are smiling,
cuddly handmade bears in every
conceivable costume with person-alities
to match.
A basic girl bear doll wears a skirt
outfit and the boy bear, a pants
outfit. Both are made in colors of
your specification. With a price
of $25, each doll represents a $25
donation. This donation allows
the club to buy wool and continue
its fabrication of handmade blan-kets,
scarves and hats for hospitals,
military bases, V.F.W. facilities and
other charities throughout the tri-state
area.
The creative fun begins when
you get into Shelley’s custom pro-ductions.
Your little granddaughter
might like to hug a cuddly ballerina
bear with a tutu in her favorite col-or.
For the young grandson who has
everything, a bear doll dressed up
as Spiderman, Superman or any of
his favorite cartoon characters. If
a child is into sports, Shelley can
dress the doll in the uniform of their
favorite team. Even movie character
bears are possible, like Yoda from
the “Star Wars” series.
Shelley seems to make a bear for
most stages of life. As teenagers,
it might be time for a Bar or Bat
Mitzvah Bear. They won’t get too
many of those as gifts! Time flies
by and it is time for college. A
unique and nostalgic gift might be
a bear emblazoned in the colors
and insignia of their college. You
must remember that when you
purchase a more elaborate, custom
bear doll, the purchase price is $30.
Once again, 100% of this money
is your contribution to sustain the
charitable activities of North Shore
Towers’ Knit and Crochet Club.
In her “free time,” Shelley has
also produced the beautiful con-cierge
bears sitting on the tables in
each lobby. She and Carol Hoexter,
a fellow club member, designed
and produced hundreds of mask
extenders. These items provided
some comfort to medical profes-sionals
working very long and
stressful days,
Now that we have taken a tour
of these unique toys, you will better
understand the connection between
Shelley and our first responders.
Having boundless creativity, she
merged two ideas: the need to
thank our medical saviors and her
doll making abilities. Voila! The
birth of the first responder bear!
Outfitted in scrubs, these characters
also wear stethoscopes and masks.
Nurses and doctors at major hos-pitals
in our area have been the
recipients of these gifts.
We have all read about the har-rowing
recollections medical per-sonnel
have of their work during this
pandemic. Perhaps something as
simple as one of these bears can put
a little bit of a smile on their faces
and soften their memories.
For inquiries about the Knit
and Crochet club, please con-tact
club president Judi Ross at
347-235-4509.
“The Bear Facts”
Photo by Julie Weissman
Hello from Florida l-r: Bobby Gould, Adrienne
Jacobs, Rita Guzy, Ann Tigler, Isabelle Kemper,
Teddy Siegel and Joy Goldstein
News from the
NST Knitting &
Crochet Club
34 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ August 2020