In 1925, my grandfather came to America seeking a better life and to avoid being conscripted into the Czechoslovakian army. At 20 years old, he envisioned a goldene medina, an idyllic golden country where the streets were paved with gold and opportunities for success and freedom abounded. Despite battling tuberculosis, surviving a workplace shooting at a TB rehab center, financial… Read More »Roni Robbins’ Chanukah Message for 2024
While most of the country saw increased cases of tuberculosis in 2023, Georgia experienced a slight decline, according to a new surveillance report from the Georgia Department of Public Health. Considered the world’s deadliest infectious disease, tuberculosis or TB is caused by bacteria spread through the air, typically when someone coughs or sneezes. The disease usually attacks the lungs. It… Read More »Tuberculosis cases in Georgia dropped in 2023, bucking the national trend
Roni Robbins shares her thoughts and inspiration for the Jewish New Year. From Family Gatherings to Prayers for Empty Seats Rosh Hashanah, and really most of the Jewish holidays, once brought our New York family together. We all lived either in New York or adjoining states and gathered in my grandparents’ modest Rego Park living room where a series of… Read More »Roni Robbins’ Rosh Hashanah Message for 2024
Hospice Nurse Julie, as she is known on TikTok, didn’t start out trying to be a social media star. Julie McFadden, RN, BSN, told Medscape Medical News she was just trying to normalize death and dying, taking the fear out an often-taboo subject, particularly in life’s last moments. The result, however, has put her in the spotlight. Six months ago, McFadden started posting… Read More »Life at the Deathbed: Hospice Nurse Uses TikTok to Teach About Dying
More than two decades ago I began the path to becoming an author, using my knowledge as a journalist to create a story that began with facts and developed into a novel. I took a break from full-time newspaper writing to raise my two young children and write a book based on cassette tapes my grandfather left about his life,… Read More »Career Transition: From Journalist to Author
Roni Robbins shares why her Dad is the best, coolest or funniest in town. Steve Kayne – Asheville, N.C. My dad is cool in a nontraditional way. How many Long Island Jewish girls have a father who’s a blacksmith? He started in our Hauppauge, N.Y., garage pounding iron into artwork, decorative pieces, fireplace tools and hardware. And he still crafts… Read More »2021 Father’s Day Tribute: Steve Kayne
‘The Takeaway Men’ brings Holocaust and 1950s New York City to life with powerful relevance to those who grew up in a similar environment post World War II. Anyone who grew up in New York in the shadow of the Holocaust with immigrant relatives will most likely feel the power of the newly published “The Takeaway Men.” That includes me,… Read More »When Historical Fiction Meets Reality
Two Jewish community event organizers played matchmaker for their parents. It ended in wedded bliss. Little did Howard Fagin know — when he was trying to honor his deceased wife several years ago — that he would be led to his future spouse. The love story mirrors the biblical narrative of Abraham and Sarah, which Rabbi Ron Segal of Temple… Read More »Never Too Late for Love
July was a tough month for our dog Scout. It started when we went away for the July 4 weekend to a family wedding in New York that twice had been rescheduled because of the pandemic. To find the right petsitter, I put out feelers on Nextdoor and screened candidates until I found what seemed a perfect fit. Then we… Read More »My Dog Has a GPS
Roni Robbins shares why her mom, Shirley Kayne, should win. Sitting across from my Mom this Passover and hearing her read the Hebrew and sing the melodies we grew up with, I realized what a treasure she is. Will I ever be able to duplicate the precision with which she chants? It brought back memories of the way her father… Read More »Mother’s Day Tribute: Shirley Kayne