LI Bagel Shop Closes After Loss Of Beloved Wife: 'The Love Of My Life'

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Speaking with Patch, Fusaro explained the decision to sell the shop, so popular that it was the 2024 winner for “best bagel,” according to the Best of LI competition, presented by the Bethpage Federal Credit Union.

Kathy, he said, was first diagnosed with cancer about four years ago during the pandemic; when it was difficult to book a doctor’s appointment. When she was finally able to be tested, she learned that the cancer had spread into her lymph nodes and that she was Stage 4, he said.

But despite the news, his wife’s indomitable spirit carried her through. “Everything was really good,” Fusaro said. “She kept bouncing back — everyone called her a rock star. She’d work with me every weekend.”

Everything had been going well until one of the tumors advanced, necessitating emergency radiation and chemotherapy for 14 days, he said. “It was too much for her. She couldn’t bounce back from that one.”

Just before that dark turn, the couple had gone out together, just the two of them. They’d built a “beautiful” business, Fusaro said; they’d had many offers to sell the shop, or to franchise, but had never pursued them. Then, a new offer arose, he said.

“All of a sudden, my wife was sitting across from me, and said, ‘Maybe we should think about it. If we take the offer, we can go away for two months together on vacation — get away.'”

His voice breaking, Fusaro said: “I looked at her and said, ‘All right, whatever you want to do.'”

And so, he said, he called the prospective buyer back. “I was hoping to go on that trip with her,” Fusaro said. “We were going to try to go to Hawaii. That was one of the places she always wanted to go.”

Reflective, Fusaro said, “At that dinner, she probably knew something different was going on. So we decided we were going to try to sell the business — to have some more time together.”

The thought of that time with his beloved wife, precious time, was the reason he’d decided to sell, Fusaro said.

From that point forward, Fusaro and his wife were facing a heartbreaking reality. “Everything went really fast,” he said. “I took the offer, but we couldn’t go on the trip. All of a sudden, everything went downhill really fast. It was horrible.”

The business sold on December 9. Kathy, he said, died on November 15. “She passed before the sale went through,” he said.

For the last month and a half, Fusaro barely went to the bagel store at all. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be there that many hours,” he said. “I was with her the whole time.”

His sister came up from Florida to run the store.

“After my wife passed, I only went to the store two times, at night, to try and do payroll. Once I went on a weekend and I couldn’t even walk out to see the customers.”

The pain was too vivid; the memories, everywhere.

But the customers, who’d become friends, gathered him in their hearts in an outpouring of love, many going to the wake.

From the time he’d opened Blazin Bagel, Fusaro said he’d put all his time and energy into the shop. “I was there 18 to 20 hours a day. Sometimes I slept in my office, because I had to get back there at 3 a.m. to start up the ovens.”

But despite the long hours, the difficulty in finding and retaining employees, Fusaro had his wife by his side — his steadfast support.

“Now I’m by myself,” he said. He and three boys — triplets, they are 22 years old — will be facing their first Christmas without her.

His focus is on his sons, Fusaro said. Two are in college. “I’ve just got to make sure everything is right, for them,” he said.

There have been moments of unimaginable pain. For the last month and a half of her life, the family had stayed with Kathy’s mother, whose house was on one level and easier to navigate.

“The hardest part for me was, when she passed — it took me two weeks to go back home to my house. Just imagine that. We were married for 25 years, together for 30. And walking in that house, everything reminded me of her. Finally, making it up to the bedroom — her clothes, her shoes.”

Her friends and colleagues at Northwell Mather Hospital also remembered Kathy in a heartfelt tribute.

“As we mourn Kathy’s passing, we remember her smile, her kindness, and the special bond she shared with so many,” they wrote.

They spoke of the Baby Yoda figurines on her desk, the photographs of her three sons, her love of party planning and the baked goods she loved to share.

“Kathy was loved and appreciated by many members of the Mather Hospital family during the 35-year tenure, first in food services and then in the finance department,” they wrote. “She will be missed greatly.”

A garden bench in Mather’s new courtyard will be dedicated to Kathy.

“She touched so many hearts,” Fusaro said. “She always had a smile on her face.”

He and his wife shared a bond that was loving and caring, he said. “We were always together.”

The pair met at Riverhead Raceway; he was on a race team and her best friend’s husband used to race.

During the pandemic, Fusaro, who’d worked in another field, pivoted when he decided to open the bagel store — it was a dream they’d shared, just as they had so many dreams since that first night they’d met.

Even when she was gone, her deep love for her husband continued to shine strong. “She must have known how hard it would be to come home. There, in the kitchen drawer, where we keep our papers and keys, I found two notes.”

The notes were left for her beloved husband to find when he needed her strength the most. Letters from the heart, a testament to a love that will last forever.

“She must have known, and hidden them for me,” he said. “She was the love of my life.”

His voice filled with tears, he said: “I know she was the one who died, but I almost feel as though I am the one who died. I feel like I am in hell right now.”

He remembers moments that break his heart: “One night, she was lying there, and she turned her head and looked at me. She never used to cry, but there was a tear coming from her eye. ‘We had so much more to do,’ she told me. ‘I wanted to see the boys get married.'”

Softly, he added, “It’s tough for me right now. And it’s Christmas.”

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In their home, there is no tree, no decorations. Not this year, when the grief is still so raw.

But he will move forward, with his sons, because that’s what Kathy would have wanted, he said. “She was all about family.”

Fusaro, despite his pain, wanted to be sure and thank his customers for their patronage — and friendship. He said he’s sorry that he had to close his doors. “I apologize — but they all say they understand.”

A GoFundMe, “Support the Fusaro Family After Losing Their Mother to Cancer,” was created by Zackary Fusaro. To donate, click here.

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