FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 14, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 37
vschneps@gmail.com
Celebrating Mother’s Day
has never been so fretful
and fearful, wanting
to be close to my children,
but knowing the dangers. For
me, quarantined since March
12, I was grateful for the sunfi
lled Sunday to bring my family
together.
My son, two daughters and
their children were able to keep
their distance, wearing masks
and gloves as we gathered
together in my backyard. Th e
grandkids, six of them, joined
me keeping their distance,
which meant no kisses or hugs
but many smiles and laughs.
But I do have one enemy
besides the deadly coronavirus:
cellphones. I get it — I’m a victim
of “phone-phobia,” bringing
my phone with me wherever
I go, like an appendage to my
body, and feeling “naked” if I am
separated from it.
Here we were, fi nally together,
but everyone was carrying a
phone or iPad in their hands. I
have tried to force everyone to
leave their phones in their pockets
or another room. Sadly I’m
mostly a failure when it comes
to that.
I recently saw a hysterical, but
shockingly true eye-opening
episode of Larry David’s “Curb
Your Enthusiasm.” Larry, portraying
a version of himself, was
on the set of a reunion episode
of the iconic show “Seinfeld,” of
which he was the chief writer.
Everyone in the living room
was on their phone and Jerry
said to his friends (cast mates),
“Why are you on the phone?
Would you carry a magazine
and open it when you were
talking to me?” Th e visual of
that made me laugh!
And here we were, on this glorious
day, and half the group
was on their phones texting or
reading.
For me, the pandemic we are
all living through does have a silver
lining. I’m now a “Zoomer”!
I Zoom with my staff , I Zoom
with my friends, I Zoom with
clients — I almost Zoomed with
a blind date! But best of all, I am
“Zooming” with all my grandkids.
One of my life goals is to keep
each of them connected to each
other and, of course, me. So
I asked my oldest grandchild
Blake,14, to host the gathering
and my 11-year-old Jonah, who
lives with me, to be my guide.
We had what I would call an
organized chaos hour on Zoom.
All six grandchildren were on
the call, popping in and out,
crying, screaming, singing and
dancing — what a visit!
I decided that our next call
needed more structure, so I
called in the cavalry for help:
my daughter Samantha’s school
teacher mother in-law, Susan.
She set me up with some great
ideas including,
a riddle session, a
joke session and a
scavenger hunt.
I searched online
for ideas and found
a web page called
“203 Fun Riddles
for Kids with
Answers.” And I
stumped my grandchildren
— ages 4
to 14 — with this
one: “What has a
face and two hands,
but no arms or
legs?” Another one
that left them perplexed:
“What has a
neck, but no head?”
Stay tuned for the
answers.
Next week is my
virtual scavenger
hunt. It was precious
to spend time
with them all to
myself.
Victory!
Victoria’s
DIARY
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
tweet me @vschneps
A one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day
Death of a dedicated businessman
Another victim of the
deadly coronavirus hit
home.
I was sad to learn that
Michael Halkias, the proud
owner of the historic iconic
Grand Prospect Hall in
Brooklyn (where my parents
were married in the ‘30s), had
succumbed to the disease.
He and his wife, Alice,
saved the historic hall from
the wrecking ball in 1984 and
restored it to its days of glory.
I selected it for many of my
Power Women and Kings of
Brooklyn events, with Michael
greeting me before each one
with his big smile and outstretched
arm of friendship.
Th e husband-and-wife team
became famous for their 20
years of running the same
commercial under their
crystal chandeliers hanging
brightly over their grand opulent
marble staircase, saying in
their charming Greek accent,
“Th e Grand Prospect Hall,
where dreams come true!” My
dream of impacting lives and
acknowledging community
leaders at their unique setting
was made true by Michael.
Like any business leader, he
told me of his worries, but
also shared his great joy of
the opera. Aft er my husband
died, I always appreciated that
Michael and Alice invited me
to see “La Boheme” at the glorious
Metropolitan Opera
House.
Michael made Brooklyn a
better place, helping thousands
of people make their
dreams come true. May he rest
in peace.
Historic Grand
Prospect Hall
loses co-owner
Michael Halkias.
Spencer, Blake, Morgan and Samantha brought
their own germ-free chairs to the gathering.
Josh and his
family join me in
the backyard.
Hudson had a blast
on the trampoline!
On a Zoom call with
my grandchildren.
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