Mother’s Day Post Part 1: Thank You Baby Songbird
When it comes to female celebrations it becomes clear pretty quickly, “It’s MYYYYY Day!” and, “ It is all about Meeeee!” We’ve all heard, “If Mom ‘aint happy, ‘aint nobody happy’. Pretty embarrassing, really. Think about it: engagement parties, wedding showers, weddings, baby showers, birthing, anniversaries, sitting Shiva, etc. “It is all about Meee!” Of course, Mother’s […]
Like A Weed Through Concrete: A Dedication to Philip Seymour Hoffman
Drug overdoses are like suicides. They are a needless waste of human life. They make us feel sad, angry and helpless. They leave us in shock with the unexplainable. We ask ourselves where did they cross the line from instant gratification to self destruction? When does enough become enough? What made them seek their edges, […]
Bury Tales: Death By any Other Name
Death By Any Other Name By Dr. Aviva Boxer, OMD Just mentioning the word ‘Death’ makes even the most callous of persons stop in their tracks and pause with the dear-in-the-headlights look before they can collect their thoughts and then respond. To circumvent this problem we have come up with many ways to say death. […]
Bury Tales: Cause of Death Then and Now
Cause of Death Then and Now: It’s All Relative The leading causes of Death in London in 1665, when statistical data was just beginning to be collected, were documented on what was called “Bills of Mortality”. The tabulation on the leading causes of death was collected at the height of the Black Plaque. Compare it […]
Bury Tales: Are You A Grave Groupie?
Are You A Grave Groupie? By Dr. Aviva Boxer, OMD The Kabbalists believe if you sleep on the grave of the deceased on the anniversary of the day that they died you will gain access to all the skills and knowledge that the deceased had in their lifetime. They believe that the deceased soul comes […]
If You Want to be Happy and You Know It, Then Cry
By Dr. Aviva Boxer, OMD The formula for a blockbuster film always includes a sad moment that produces tears. There is a reason for this, and it is not what you think. Ever notice how close you feel about a date after seeing a movie that makes you cry? That is because scientists (1) have […]
Under The Flag on The 4th of July
UNDER THE FLAG: CELEBRATING FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS By Dr. Aviva Boxer, OMD I can see all the thousands of American Flags grounded into the graves of hundreds of thousands of soldiers buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. What a glorious sight on this fourth of July: the birthday of our freedom. All those […]
Graduation: The Glee and the Grief
Life Passages are all crossroads. Crossroads are a place where one choice ends and another begins, a fork in the road of life’s journey. One of life passages is graduation from the academic world; where the student uses all the knowledge accumulated thus far, and puts it to use as they set off into […]
Advice from my Dad, Harry
My 97 yr. old Father does not want his funeral to be about being a brilliant attorney, a mediocre businessman or a father of six. He wants it be about ‘the ticket’. Not Taylor Swift’s ‘One-way ticket’. Or The Beatles ‘Ticket to ride’. Or even Willie Wonka’s ‘Golden Ticket’. The ticket is what my Father referred to as […]
Celebrating the Breath of my Birth
My birthday is this week. Birthdays were always peak experiences and life passages in our family. We saved all year for their homespun extravagance. We brought all the 5 senses to the birthday. Willed my children, who are all grown up now, “Remember the fire hydrant party, the bee party, the unicorn party, the sky writer […]