Kismet is known as a welcoming community, and last week, we welcomed yet another new group of visitors. They arrived in shifts, this disparate group of widows, old and young, teenage girls and young children. Their common thread: The loss of family members in the 9/11 tragedy.
The World Trade Center Family Center in Rockville Center, run by South Nassau Community Hospital, is the only self-standing counseling center for 9/11 families in the metropolitan area. Dr. Antoinette (Toni) Tarnell, searching for a way to bring the centers’ teen girls into more supportive relationships with one another, thought an overnight outing might lead to healthy bonding. The girls, in typical teenage fashion, had resisted counseling and any effort that would label or single them out as “different,” opting to attend only activity-based events. Searching the Internet, Dr. T. found Dennis Waldman’s KismetRental.com site. Dennis was anxious to help them but all his houses were rented. Fortunately, his friend Greg Pecoraro, whose Margarita Villas were also filled, offered R.T., his old house. Dennis and Greg met Dr. Tarnell, Carol Cullen, Supervisor of Child and Family Programs, and 10 girls between the ages of 14-16 at the ferry Monday morning. The girls went to the beach, enjoyed a lunch donated by the Kismet Inn, played pool and walked to Ocean Beach for shopping. That evening they prepared and shared a spaghetti dinner with ice cream sundaes. The Out treated the group to lunch on Tuesday. Carol told me they considered it a very successful outing and are now planning additional overnights with the girls, including another trip to Kismet in September.
The teens went home Tuesday and were succeeded by an overnight group of older (50+) widows. Thursday was scheduled for a group of younger widows with pre-kindergarten children. It’s hard to judge the impact of such a tragedy and the subsequent family disruption on children who were so young and pre-verbal when it happened. Still, I was impressed at their sad and lost expressions in the first “posed” pictures I took. Once they escaped this unwanted formality, however, a natural child’s delight at the sand, sun and waves took over. Two of the boys made a project of helping a pretty young stranger fill her pail – over and over – with infectious giggles and smiles as well as water for a sand castle.
If you’d like to get involved, the center is always looking for volunteers of all ages to help with activities, sporting and family events. Contact them at (516) 678-2700 or wtcfamilycenter.org.