Jill Zarin can still feel late husband Bobby Zarin‘s presence everywhere she goes.
“Bobby is totally here,” the Real Housewives of New York City alum, 60, exclusively told Us Weekly at her Mend Skincare Presents: Jill Zarin’s Luxury Luncheon in Southampton, New York, on Saturday, July 20. “He’s been guiding me a lot recently in some challenges I’ve had in business. I’ve had to make some very tough decisions and I feel like he’s guiding my hand. When one door closes, two open.”
The Bravo personality continued, “He’s always with me and I’m going to see him [next week]. I’m going to go to the cemetery. We actually picked it out together. We have a beautiful spot like a park. There are no stones, they’re on the ground and I have a park bench there.”
Bobby, who wed Jill in 2000, was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2009 and had his thyroid removed; however, the cancer ended up returning in 2013 and spread to his lungs. In 2016, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died in 2018 at age 71.
Jill went on to tell Us why her event, which benefited the Bobby Zarin Memorial Trust, was so important to her.
“I wanted to continue trying to help the next person. Bobby didn’t survive, but maybe one day they’ll have a cure for it,” she explained. “So, I can only raise so much money at an event when I’m giving away everything, but we do raise the money. It goes to two hospitals, one in New York and one in Florida because Bobby was treated in both places.”
At Saturday’s event, Jill was joined by former Housewives Ramona Singer and LeeAnne Locken, as well as Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Teresa Giudice, Dolores Catania and Jennifer Aydin along with their respective partners – and their support is something that Jill has never taken lightly.
“Not everyone can say that,” Jill told Us, “but I keep my relationships.”
The former RHONY cast member – who starred on the long-running series from season 1 to season 4 and appeared on season 2 of The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip – also revealed that she reached out to Bravo newcomers Erin Lichy and Ubah Hassan, who joined the cast of the RHONY reboot last year, to give them some advice before their small screen debuts.
“We took them out to lunch right before it was coming out just to give them a little pep talk and tell them, you know, if there are haters, ignore it,” she said. “Everyone forgets all the things that happen. I wish someone told me that when I was on the show. So I try to give some advice to them.”
With reporting by Andrew Nodell