FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 14, 2021 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 31
Victoria’s
DIARY
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
vschneps@gmail.com
tweet me @vschneps
The emotional toll of moving
My mom as
a bride.
One of my favorite
memories is riding an
elephant with Stu in
Thailand.
My fifi ancé Nat Bassen and I
traveled to Hong Kong and
the French Riviera.
Me (front row, second from l.) surrounded by my cousins.
Traveling to see the Pope at the
Vatican with Claire Shulman.
My brother Bob and me.
Moving is hell, but with
all that is going on in
the world between
the insurrection of our nation’s
capital, the ongoing impeachment
of our president, and
the COVID-19 pandemic,
I feel guilty complaining
about moving.
But now I know why
my late husband Stu said
he’d do anything if I didn’t
make him move aft er our
marriage. I knew he was
smart, but his wisdom was
unmatched!
Fast forward to today, I
always say “everything has
its time” and I decided that
living alone in a big house,
aft er my children moved
out, was too much for me.
It’s not the physical part
of the move that’s been
challenging — there’s been
a lot of fi nger-guiding to
the movers — but rather
the emotional impact.
I never realized how sentimental
I am or that it
would be so emotionally diffi -
cult separating from my home,
my belongings and the life I had
living there.
I took a trip down memory
lane looking through the dozens
of photo albums that me, my
mom and Stu’s children had collected.
Th ere were photos from
the time my mom was pregnant
with me, to photos of my childhood
of my days as a Girl Scout
and my mom being all dressed
up as the leader in her uniform.
I was in awe looking back at
my history. Going through the
photos and seeing so many loved
ones who have since passed
away has had a deep impact on
my heart.
Life is a series of passages
and this is mine. Moving to
a smaller, more compact space
meant leaving behind so many
objects of memories, including
my late husband Stu’s diplomas
from Jamaica High School,
Dartmouth College and
Syracuse University
Medical School and
his hospital specialty
certifi cates.
I like to remember
the good days
of traveling with my
fi ancé Nat and my
husband Stu around
the world. There
before me,
tucked away
in drawer
aft er drawer
and multiple closets, were photo
albums fi lled with memories of
the many trips we took together.
Th en there were the collectible
works of art and
objects we bought along
the way, including ancient
statuettes from Burma
and China and my favorite
photo of Stu and I on
an elephant in Th ailand.
Every time I look at it,
I smile as I am reminded
of Stu proudly sitting
in the “mahouts” position,
behind the elephant’s
ears, as I sat terrifi
ed in my closed-in seat
perched high above the
ground. When we were in
a convoy of elephants and
I dropped my water bottle,
our mahout told the
elephant to pick it up and sure
enough, when we arrived at the
steps of the palace, the elephant
had picked it up off the ground
and it was handed to me!
I also found a photo album
that contains pictures of the
lodge I stayed at while on a
safari in South Africa.
Th en there were piles of letters
and cards from my children
and my husbands and
almost-husband Nat. How do
I part with these
cherished items?
My kids got me
an electronic photo
album and photos
will be streamed
in my new home,
but thousands don’t
easily transcribe!
To my amazement,
I found years’ worth
of diaries from my
college days that I
had written. I guess
even before going
into the news business,
I liked to keep
a diary, something I
still enjoy doing and
sharing with you to
this day.
The moving
men from Men on
the Move arrived
promptly at 8:30 a.m.
to begin packing, but
I wasn’t ready!
And aft er a long day
of going through my
“things,” I sobbed as I
pulled away from what
was my home for 18
years.
I know at one point
the boxes delivered
to my new home
will be emptied
and my extraordinary
daughter
Samantha is helping
me “cleanse” my
closets. She laughingly
said, “If you did
this before the move, you
would have spent $1,000 less
in moving costs!”
But I couldn’t face making so
many decisions alone. Just having
her help me say “yes” or “no”
made it so much easier.
‘A DAY THAT WILL
LIVE IN INFAMY’
I was so sad that I cried for me,
my children and my country as
I watched an angry mob surge
into our glorious, majestic and
historic Capitol building.
My hope is that the calm voice
of reason that President-elect
Joe Biden is exuding will lead
us all out of the hell of COVID-
19 and slowly calm the rage and
fury of President Trump’s supporters.
I’m an optimist, so I believe
2021 will be a better year for all
of us.
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