By Anthony Rifilato
He did this so his mother would not remain an anonymous victim, so that if anyone asked the clerk about the hit-and-run accident, or what the tape was for, they'd know her name.
"You just tell them the lady lived here," Robair told the clerk, and pointed to his home, just across the thoroughfare on Florence Street, where the two lived together.
Robair sat on the curb near a chalk marking of a number one on the street, next to blood stains. This is where his mother was hit by a white Cadillac on July 29, and where Robair helplessly watched emergency workers try to save her. The driver of the car, Thomas Burke, 43, of Baldwin, fled the scene and was subsequently charged with leaving the scene of a fatal auto accident.
As Robair spoke about his mother, he sobbed intermittently, especially when he thought about how he would never walk to the corner the same way again. "It's hard to get a sense of closure when you see tire tracks of blood the next day and surgical gloves in the gutter," he said. "Every time I walk over there, I think about my mother."
After last week's tragedy, Ann Lindner's friends and relatives are coping with deep grief. They cannot understand why her life was recklessly taken away from her; they believe she was cheated. She died, they said, just as she had happily settled into a new job.
For both mother and son, the past year was a turning point. Ann had changed jobs and gained more autonomy as a licensed real estate broker at RE/Max in Malverne. Robair, a glass and marble sculptor and precision marine welder, had overcome cocaine abuse and found spirituality. Things were looking up for both of them.
"My mom did not have an easy life," Robair said. "But she seized moments of joy."
Mrs. Lindner grew up in Franklin Square and attended Sewanaka High School. She married, had two children, Gary, a carpenter in East Meadow, and Robair, and moved to Baldwin. Robair and friends described her as well mannered, generous and full of integrity. "If she says she will do something for someone, that's what she is going to do," Robair said.
Neighbors said Mrs. Lindner will be missed. "She was a real sweet lady," said Demarcus Rose, who lives next door. "She would always talk to people in the neighborhood."
Patrick Hanley, a lifelong Baldwin resident who grew up with Robair in the neighborhood, said Mrs. Lindner was like a matriarch here. "She was always very proper," Hanley said. "She always looked out for [Robair] and everybody in this neighborhood."
While Mrs. Lindner was warm and caring, she was also a strong woman, Robair said. She was bothered when her husband bought a house in Mattituck without consulting her, so she stayed in Baldwin with the kids while their father left, though they visited each other often. Robair's father died three years ago.
Having to support her two children on her own, Mrs. Lindner decided to get her real estate license, and studied hard for the test. Robair had no doubt his mother, an intelligent woman who was a whiz at "Jeopardy," would pass. "I said, 'You're going to get a 99,'" he recalled. Weeks later, she showed him the results with a smile on her face. She scored over 95. "Too bad my mom didn't become a teacher," Robair said. "She could have done that."
The night of the accident, Robair came home from work on the 6:10 p.m. train at the Baldwin LIRR station and walked home. That night, he said he planned to apologize to his mother for being a little agitated lately, and wanted to tell her that he loved her.
While he was next door talking to a neighbor, Ann came home from work at around 9 p.m. She told Robair she was going to get milk. A few minutes later he heard a bang, then a roar, then the blare of ambulance sirens.
At first, he thought it was just another accident, common in the area, he said. But a few minutes later, he began to worry. He went to the corner of Florence and Grand, where he was met with a gruesome scene. He ran under the police tape and looked for his mother, who he thought would be standing on the sidewalk. Then he saw a rainbow shirt, and saw her lying in the street.
"It was like lightning going through me," Robair recalled. "What was I thinking?" he said, shaking his lowered head. "I should have walked with her."
When he found out that Burke was the driver, Robair said he was floored. The two went to high school together, and though Robair said he doesn't hate Burke, he says he should be held accountable for his actions. Robair said his mother once said, "If you are participating in negative activities, you affect people in a negative fashion."
While he struggles with his mother's death, Robair said he wants to live his life by following her example. "Now it's time for me to measure up," he said.
