Cona Elder Law Honors Lucille Leli, 75, as ‘Caregiver of the Year’

As a way of showing appreciation for the selfless dedication and sacrifice of family caregivers who are taking care of their elderly loved ones, Cona Elder Law, a leading elder law firm based in Melville, selected Lucille Leli, 75 year old Babylon resident, as “Caregiver of the Year.”  Lucille was honored on April 20th at Cona Elder Law’s Caregiver Conference held at Dowling College in Oakdale and was presented with a $200 gift certificate, an award and flowers.

Based on the winning essay submitted by Lucille’s daughter, JoAnn Randazzo of Lindenhurst, it was clear that this full-time caregiver who lives with her 96 year old mother, Millie who has dementia, goes way beyond the call of duty.  Even though on most days her efforts are thankless, Lucille has been caring for her mother full time for 15 years.  JoAnn notes that “Lucille provides all the care and back-breaking work while never letting her mom see her sweat.”  In her essay, JoAnn also said that Lucille exemplifies that care giving is ageless and “comes from a place in your heart that knows no limits.” 

Selected from 30 essays nominating a caregiver, JoAnn’s nomination of Lucille was chosen because “her sentiments rang true for so many caregivers, including the often thankless, back-breaking work of a caregiver,” says Jennifer Cona, Esq., elder law attorney and managing partner of Cona Elder Law.  “Lucille gives so much of herself to care for her mom, including giving up her own retirement years by moving in with her mother to become her full-time caregiver.”

This is the first of an annual Caregiver of the Year award contest.  Because Cona Elder Law works with so many families who put their own lives on hold and even lose or quit jobs to perform the difficult and time consuming caregiving tasks, Ms. Cona and her partners believe that a little recognition will go a long way.

Genser Dubow Genser Dubow & Cona is recognized as a leading elder law and estate planning firm on Long Island.  The firm provides a full range of services and has been featured in many publications including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, L.I. Business News, Kiplinger’s, Reader's Digest and many others.   Cona Elder Law attorneys are frequent contributors to Newsday’s Act II “Ask the Expert” column and have appeared as guests on WNBC-TV, CNN-fn, News 12, News 55, Channel 21 "Act II With Newsday" and many radio stations including WOR, WCBS AM and WFAN.