52 The QUEE NS Courier • buzz • JUly 21, 2016 FOr breaking news visit www.qns.com Life’s Turning Upside Down and Then Up Again Victoria’s Secrets On a Lighter Note Assemblywoman Seawright (fourth from left) with Congresswoman Maloney and my partners on the course, with host Sandra Wilkin (left) Dynamic $1500 off Lumineers $500 off Invisalign DENTAL WORK CALL FOR FREE CONSULTATION THE INVISIBLE WAY TO SOME EXCLUSIONS APPLY STRAIGHTEN TEETH Third Generation Dentist 175-15 Jamaica avenue, Jamaica 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 The world seems upside down with the murders in Nice and the crisis in Turkey, sad deaths on our soil, with justice being sought for all our citizens, and my grandson Hudson turning 4. I’ve been reading the biography of Clare Booth Luce, who was a Renaissance woman, playwright, author, diplomat and raconteur, and she recounts the crisis after crisis in her times. But our country carried on. And so we do. I got a text from my cousin Danny, a transplanted New Yorker, then Miamian, who has lived in Nice for decades, that he was okay. The bomb that went off during France’s Bastille Day celebration with crowds gathering shocked us all. I remember fondly my visit to him on the sunny, lush beach of Nice. Danny is a physicist who relocated after marrying his beloved Nicole, a Parisian physicist whom he met at a world conference of physicists. They have a beautiful house with a pool almost contiguous to the University of Nice, where they taught for decades. Their life was magical, doing what they loved in a place the world recognizes as a Rivera destination that my son and his wife Tracey chose for their honeymoon. I still remember the lunch on the Nice beach set formally with flowers and a linen tablecloth and napkins with a meal of freshly caught fish and vegetables from the nearby garden, all in view of the turquoise waters — tranquility and luxury! It’s hard to imagine the chaos and killing in such an environment. My heart goes out to those lost and injured. But we carry on and don’t allow ourselves to be crushed and intimidated by these insane people. Sadly, in our own country, we see insane people with guns doing insane things. In Queens, we are proud to be the most diverse place on the planet Earth with Brooklyn close behind. I’m so amazed and impressed by my communities where we all live side by side in peace and tolerance. Sure, there are sick people everywhere, but we should take courage and pride in the majority of our neighbors who are caring and kind. The enormous support and vigils we’ve seen around our city and country are a testimony to this. We hopefully, under the leadership of the city’s first lady Chirlane McCray, will get the funding in place to identify and help the mentally ill. It breaks my heart to see how, over 40 years ago, the Willowbrook Consent Decree protected and ensured programs for people with developmental disabilities. But no such case was filed on behalf of the mentally ill. We are all paying the price by seeing the fallout — prisons filled with people who are mentally ill, our homeless population and streets filled with “lost” people who our society has forgotten. We are all paying a steep price for this lack of care. When will it change? I hope that my grandchildren will get to live in a world where we care for the mental and physical health of our neighbors and ourselves. With all the swirling news reports nationally and internationally, I’m so grateful I had the pleasure and joy of celebrating Hudson being 4 and his cousins gathering around him. I think I keep my balance by being focused on my family who offer a balance to both work and the world around me. May you be so blessed. It’s a time to squeeze them and say, “I love you!” Victoria SCHNEPS-YUNIS vschneps@gmail.com tweet me @vschneps Life has its fun times and mine was to be on the golf course with a foursome of powerful women all gathered together by Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright. Rebecca and I met through her husband Jay Hershenson, vice chancellor of CUNY, someone I’ve admired for years. My memories of Istanbul are magical, like this man selling Ozo on the street! Celebrating Hudson’s 4th birthday with cousins Jonah and Addy Assemblyman Jeff Aubry, Carolyn Maloney and Rebecca Seawright Sandra Wilkin, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Gold Coast Bank CEO John Tunis
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