Are people born hardy? If not, can this trait be learned? How do we cope with a lifetime of challenges or one life-changing traumatic event? These questions and more will be explored during “Resiliency: A Work in Progress.”
Town Social Worker Lucille Buergers will moderate the Zoom program sponsored by the Shelter Island Public Library and the Shelter Island Health and Wellness Alliance. It takes place on Friday, January 28 at 7 PM. Follow this link to register on the library website.
At the onset of the pandemic, like so many other institutions, the library found itself in do-or-die mode. As we know, so many entities closed their doors to the public. But instead of closing, Terry Lucas and the library staff figured out how to become even more relevant in our community. Through their extensive online programming, Islanders, new and old, became involved. As a result, the library became a thriving mainstay of the community.
Therefore, it is entirely fitting that the library is collaborating with the alliance to sponsor this Zoom talk as part of the Necessary Bridges series.
The date of the program is no accident. Holocaust Remembrance Day is January 27. The program honors those caught up in that cruel history who survived and perished. Victor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, famously said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Inspirational Islanders
Featured with Lucille will be a panel of inspirational Shelter Islanders, each of whom has confronted adversity and thrived. They will tell their stories and together compare what helped them to prevail. Jocelyn Ozolins, another library guru, will administer the program.
Each of our presenters confronted very different situations at different times of their lives. For example, Steve Sacks and Reggie Johnson were born into traumatic family situations. As children, they had to navigate a frightening and insecure world. Yet they both have become successful adults and, perhaps not coincidently, are both mental health professionals dedicating their lives to helping others.
Nancy Butts was stricken by polio at age 6 and hospitalized for a year. Through perseverance and a supportive family, Nancy has not allowed this devastating disease to define her life.
In 1941, when Itka Zygmuntowicz was 15, her Polish Jewish family was deported and ultimately sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. As a survivor, she dedicated her adulthood to Holocaust education. She recently died at 94, but her daughter-in-law Anne Danforth will be present to tell her story.
Shelter Island Gazette Co-Publisher Edward Brennan is the lone panelist whose traumatic experience occurred as an adult. He was at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. He will discuss coping with the aftermath of that tragedy.
While these participants are powerful examples of resiliency, many others have suffered and prevailed, particularly in the last two years of the pandemic. It is hoped that the community will join this program to celebrate our panelists, learn from them, and also acknowledge the strengths which we all have found within.
How to register
Please register at shelterislandpubliclibrary.org. Follow the instructions closely because two steps are required to receive the Zoom link. All are welcome to attend this presentation of the library’s Friday Night Dialogues series.
And let’s give a round of applause to our library for keeping us connected. Their resiliency has benefitted us all.
