\”If my mother was here, she\’d probably be saying, \’Dayenu, enough already,\’\” said Dr. Eugene Gettelman, who turned 100 in June. \”She\’d think I was meshugge for having a fourth bar mitzvah.\”
\”I always say it is lingerie and meditation that have kept me young,\” says Michael Attie, a 62-year-old author, spiritual seeker and former owner of Playmates of Hollywood — the world\’s largest lingerie store.
Once known as \”The Lingerie Monk,\” Attie managed to combine his passion for spirituality with 13 years of selling sexy lingerie on Hollywood Boulevard.
I first met Attie when I recorded his mother\’s family history, and she told the story of her son inheriting Playmates of Hollywood. Her husband owned the store until 1982, when, faced with declining health, he called his son, who was meditating in the woods of Northern California, and asked him to come home to run the lingerie store.
Michael Attie made the most of it.
John F. Kennedy once said, \”When written in Chinese, the word \’crisis\’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.\”
Life is full of change — in fact, one of the only things we can predict and count on in life is that things won\’t stay the same. For many of us, this is exemplified in our work. Indeed, statistics suggest that most adults will experience five to 12 careers or job changes in a lifetime.
One thing that pleases Harmatz about being the grand marshal is riding in a convertible. In fact, last year when it rained on the parade, someone suggested they put up the top, but Harmatz wanted it left down.
Couples who have created a partnership and life together consistently talk of the effort involved. Yes, some relationships seem easier than others, but all say it takes time, energy and a true willingness to face whatever comes along on their journey together.
Moving from a familiar home and letting go of things owned for years can feel like an additional loss. It\’s not just the loss of the objects that has an impact; it\’s the connection with the past that these objects symbolize.
Many people with aging parents don\’t want to face their eventual death, said Rachelle Elias, a licensed marriage and family therapist and grief specialist in Santa Monica. \”We believe that, since they\’ve been here all of my life, they\’re a fixture. They\’ll always be here.
\”Also, the small child part of us sees our parents as a buffer between us and anything bad that might happen. They\’re sort of a place of refuge, even if it\’s just in our mind.\”
\”What I wanted was music that touches people\’s souls and hearts in many different ways in their time of need,\” Len Lawrence said.
Passover is a time for families to gather, to enjoy each other\’s company and to recall the story of our shared ancient history.
It is also the perfect time to preserve your family\’s greatest treasure: the memories and stories of your own family elders.
Imagine this situation: You\’ve arrived at LAX after hours of sitting in an airplane from Italy. You\’ve waited in line to get through customs, lugged your suitcases from the baggage claim and you finally emerge to locate your relatives. But they\’re nowhere to be found, and you don\’t speak English. What do you do?
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