Ken Lefkowitz

KEN LEFKOWITZ has a BA degree from Brooklyn College, an MS degree from the City University of NY and a graduate business studies at St. John's University. Currently retired. Formerly a consultant and Sr. Director for major corporations, where he managed people from all walks of life and from many locations and cultures. Book “Weave of Destiny” is about the jagged road he and his wife traveled to have a family of their own. Published by Legacy Book Press. Other writing and articles have appeared in the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier Post/USA Today, and the Washington Post as well as in professional business journals.

Articles:

Funeral Provides Children with Full Picture of Dad

Funeral Provides Children with Full Picture of Dad During the day of my father Leo’s funeral, his sons were treated to much praise and tributes from members of the Factory Inspectors Union, many of whom attended Leo’s burial with sincere, deep respect. Leo’s oldest son, Phil, who had left Leo’s hospital bedside, returned for the funeral. At the grave site, Jake Peters, a union officer, philosophized to Leo’s three sons, “If you die and don’t accomplish anything, don’t leave a mark, you die for sure. But if you’ve impacted something, changing something, fought and stood up for something, you live […]

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Gratitude Amid the Unfairness of Loss

After losing two children, Carolyn and Matthew, and then having two more children, Kim and Danny, my wife explained a recent experience. Holding Child After Death She said: “The other night when you were gone on a business trip, I was watching television after I put Kim and Danny to sleep. Our kids are so wonderful. A nurse on a news show was demonstrating how mothers whose babies died were allowed to hold the small lifeless bodies in order to say goodbye and get some feeling of closure. Most of the mothers spoke very positively about the experience. As each […]

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Living Children Come First After Loss

My wife and I have lost two children, and we have three living children. One day, my wife spoke to me about her ambivalence about visiting the graves of our deceased children. Urge to Visit Cemetery “You know Ken,” she said. “Sometimes I have thoughts about visiting the unmarked graves where Carolyn and Matthew are buried in New York.” “It used to be a vague distant, almost undefined feeling rather than a crystal-clear thought. Then, like a puff of mystical smoke, it dissipated. It used to be that way, so I guess that’s why I never talked about it. Recently […]

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Healthy Baby Brings Joy After Losses

Healthy Baby Brings Joy After the death of two babies, my wife Sheila gave birth to a healthy baby boy. “Wow, he’s just great,” I told Sheila as I leaned over her hospital bed to kiss her on the forehead. She was in pain from the C-Section incision, but this time happiness enveloped her, diminishing any discomfort. “I was able to suit up in whites and special sanitized gloves. In these, I can enter the Infant Intensive Care Unit. I’ve held his hand and touched his face through special holes in the side of his clear plastic covered crib. Doctor […]

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Husband Admires Wife’s Strength After Child-Loss

This is an excerpt from Weave Our Destiny, by Ken Lefkowitz. This scene comes after the death of the second of two of his children, one stillborn, the other just one day old. “I never even saw him,” she said. “I never touched him. Never held him. Never kissed him. My arms feel so heavy, they ache from emptiness. I don’t even know what my heart is feeling. I’m numb.” She began to cry, gently at first and then more heavily. “I did get the chance to hold his hand. But I also watched him die. I kissed Matthew for […]

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When the Pregnancy Test Looks Bad

The Pregnancy Test Looks Bad “The baby may be developing the same thing that caused our first baby’s death,” I informed my mother in a broken voice. My face was covered by a wet film of sweat. I was ashen underneath. When the words left my lips, my mouth swelled. I breathed heavily and erratically. I felt like my heart had stopped beating. My mother fell into the couch, slumped over. She looked at the floor and clutched her breast like someone who had been shot by an assassin. There was no blood, but she was drenched in horror. The […]

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What It’s Like When Your Newborn Dies

The following is excerpted from the book, Weave of Destiny, by Ken Lefkowitz, published by Legacy Book Press. Available for sale at this link: Weave of Destiny – Legacy Book Press An Infant Labors “I’m Dr. Rice, and you are the father, I assume.” A tall, handsome man in a white lab coat extended his hand to me in a greeting. He had entered by the same doors through which Matthew’s bed had been taken. “Hi,” was all I could say, hoping that he would continue on.  But the doctor then guided me through the doors to the Infant Intensive […]

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