SAY IT OUT LOUD - SENIOR AND PROUD!
Every morning Every night
THANK YOU Mark Rubin begins and ends each day with gratitude By Ellen Braunstein
W
hat makes Mark Rubin, 83, happiest is knowing that “my family is well and safe.” The same can be said for his three sons who promised their mother right before she died that they would look after their father. A retired food broker, Rubin lives in Courtyard Village, an active senior living community in Raleigh Hills, which is 10 minutes from downtown Portland. Since 2017, he is living life to the fullest surrounded by family and friends whom he helps without hesitation. “I have been helping any way I can,” he said. Rubin stepped up twice when the 183-apartment community experienced a food worker shortage because of the pandemic. “They gave me an apron with my name on it and said, ‘We need your help tonight.’ I said, ‘I’ll be more than happy to.’ It’s my responsibility to watch out and make sure everybody’s OK,” even if it’s just to seat someone at dinner. 26
MAY/JUNE 2022 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE
Rubin volunteers for many activities at Courtyard Village from leading bingo and trivia to building a sukkah on the lushly landscaped grounds. He also lights the menorah and leads Passover seders. Not all has been idyllic since he relocated to Courtyard Village. When the pandemic struck and his wife died of Parkinson’s in May 2020, he was yanked from his apartment to be with his sons who were working from home. Rubin rotated from house to house for 50 weeks at his sons’ insistence. “When the pandemic was happening there were pictures in the newspaper of grandparents behind glass windows talking to their children and grandchildren. My sons said, ‘You’re never going to have that. You’re coming to live with us.’” Courtyard Village immediately welcomed him back when it was time to return a year ago, he said. Rubin grew up in Dallas where his parents instilled strong
