Robin Sorkin is our next Zoom Café guest, Friday, November 4th @4PM (ET). Robin will share her insights on and expectations of senior care. Then, we’ll discuss the often taboo questions that swirl around living and dying well. 

What do you do or did you do for work?
Well… What I currently do for work I do not consider work! It is a joy and an honor to be a Care Manager in Assisted Living and Memory Care, and a hospice volunteer, and share in the late adulthood and end of lives of my residents. They have reached the age and stage where they are unabashedly themselves and share on a daily basis their wisdom, humor and unfiltered opinions! Decades prior to this iteration of my professional self, much of what I did for work revolved around my college degree (acquired light years ago) in Television and Radio but, alas, I did not become the next Barbara Walters. I held posts in journalism, public relations and marketing, peppered throughout with beloved stints in retail (I do love clothing and accessories!), including my own boutique fashion business for several years.

What do you do when you don’t know what to do?
Over the years, I have learned to take a step back, breathe and assess the situation. What is the issue at hand? Can I safely and successfully address it? And, if I cannot, I reach out to the person or persons who might best assist. Also, I now know when to hold them and when to fold them. There are times when I simply cannot affect change in or benefit a situation other than controlling how it affects me.

Robin is wearing the Alma A-line Shift Dress from our Modern Retro Collection

What would you do if you had the whole day to yourself?
This question made me smile instantly! It triggered a memory from my 20s when I was single, working one of my first jobs (which carried the hours of five jobs), and I had little time to myself… Likely a Saturday because I would work on Sundays to stay current. Since I am rarely by myself these days as my husband has always worked from our home and I spend many of my days caring for others, I would self-indulgently and without an ounce of guilt remain by myself and savor the entire day… Rise early and exercise (in the old days I would go for a long run; now, I would go for a long ride on my Peloton); cool down with hot maple pecan coffee and the newspaper and read it cover-to-cover; take a hot shower with a citrus salt scrub and put on fresh athleisure wear; do a few chores (I make my bed every day, replete with hospital corners) as I love my home to be in order before I launch my day outside; possibly whip up an egg-white omelet with blue cheese (I know, a bit incongruent) and eat it while watching a ridiculous reality show; bop around for a few hours in my Wrangler to return a few “what was I thinking” mail order items and enjoy every moment of touching and trying on merchandise since the pandemic robbed me of my favorite indoor sport: shopping in person; visit a gourmet grocery store and select delish prepared foods for dinner; return home and take a long nap; wake up starving because, isn’t that what happens after a nap?; heat up my dinner and—wait for it—eat it in bed while watching chick
flicks!

What is the best thing about being a woman?
There is not a day that goes by that I do not thank God (love her!) that I was born a woman. I have always felt that as women we have innate superpowers that men do not and will never possess … and we use them for good. The good of our families, the good of others, the global good. I have said many times that I love my husband and sons dearly; but I derive my energy and validation from the women in my life. When I am in the company of these women, my synapses fire and my greatest growth occurs.

What is the one piece of clothing you cannot live without?
Gracious, just one??? If you had asked what accessory, I would have answered my hairbands because they are among my signatures. If you had asked what makeup, I would have answered shades of red lipstick as it is, also, among my signatures. But no. You have asked about clothing. Oy vey, okay. It has to be black, anything on the bottom because, for me, it is typically black on the bottom and color on top. Interestingly, I recently acquired my first three pairs of Alembika black pants!

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1 Comment

  1. I am interviewing tomorrow to be a hospice volunteer. I hope to watch your Zoom Cafe on November 4. I may reach out to you for support!

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