It was just another late August morning for Dyker Heights resident Lynn Sanders. She had just woken up and was making coffee when suddenly she found herself on the floor. With her arms and legs feeling like rubber, Sanders slowly crawled back to her bedroom to get her phone to call a friend for help.
Once the Fire Department took her to a local hospital, Sanders learned that she had suffered a stroke. After emergency brain and heart surgeries were performed, Sanders lost the use of her left side, including her arm and leg. And thus began her long journey to recovery.
"I miss being normal," said Sanders. "But I'm working towards it. The knuckles in my hand move now. I get around stiffly with a cane."
Aside from her physical recovery, she is also concerned about the future of her store CUE Boutique. Located at 9108 3rd Avenue in Bay Ridge, Sanders, 68, opened CUE 20 years ago after many years working in Manhattan's garment district and running a salon and spa. The clothes she sells can be described as classic, dressy and sexy, the kind you wear on a date or a night out.
"I love fashion, I love glamour," she said. "People loved it when I dressed them. It was so nice and thriving."
But now unable to work, Sanders said she is finding it difficult to not only generate income, but to keep CUE open. What made shoppers come to her store was Sanders herself, she explained, because of her enthusiasm and outgoing personality. She also did hairdressing in the back of the boutique which helped her make a decent living.
Now, Sanders said she is making very little money from the boutique, and the monthly social security checks she gets is not enough to carry her monthly bills. Plus, she is worried about her medical bills- from her surgeries, to the hospital stay to physical therapy sessions, paying rent is getting more difficult, she said.
"It's a sh*tshow," Sanders said as she began to weep. "Everything was great, but now it is terrible. My whole life went down the tubes. I just want my store back."
In November, Sanders set up a GoFundMe to keep CUE afloat. The goal is to reach $20,000 but only a little more than $3,500 has been donated so far.
In the meantime, Sanders said she is receiving some help from her brother and sister, son and godson, but everyone is limited by how much they can help.
"I'm trying to be positive," Sanders said. "I don't want to complain. I'm alive. So many people have illnesses and don't recover from them."
CUE remains open while Sanders' friend and her daughter, Emily Tomchuk, help run the boutique. Tomchuk said business at CUE has been slow since the new year, but locals have stopped by, some to express their sympathies to Sanders' plight.
"She's very hardworking," Tomchuk said about Sanders. "She was here every single day and never took a day off. She's very outgoing and makes great conversation. That's why people love her. She loved to help others."
For now, Sanders is focused on recovering. She has physical therapy twice a week and her therapist tells her what a fighter she is. She is refusing to close the boutique, citing how difficult it can be to find work at a mature age.
"I want to move forward," she insisted. "I don't want to lose everything and fought for my whole life."
