The way Hollywood depicts it, love is “wonderful”. Anyone who has been in love knows it’s not always so easy. There are endless ups and downs and all arounds. Too often, someone ends up with a broken heart. Not So Wonderful There’s nothing quite like opening your heart to another person. That surge of emotions is like...
Falling in love has all the tell tale signs of an illness. You can’t think straight. You’re distracted with your head in the clouds. You start acting goofy, even awkward, around your love interest. That’s what they call moonstruck. What It Means to Be Moonstruck The word moonstruck has an interesting etymology. A combination of...
Parents must have been in a tizzy when Ferris Bueller’s Day Off came out. I was in the 6th grade. Watching a young Matthew Broderick do whatever the hell he wanted was not only amusing but awe-inspiring. What middle or high schooler didn’t want to feel as confident or in-control as Ferris Bueller? All a...
My dad and I were estranged when he passed away. I was practicing family medicine in Durham, CT, but on that fateful day, I was in Hyannis, MA, attending a writer’s conference. Cape Cod was not far from my childhood home in New Bedford, MA. Something was clearly drawing me back to the place. Living...
Every family has some level of dysfunction. At the very least, they have a family member that finds their way into trouble. Then, there are the people who enable them. Acknowledging the Problem For the Buchman family in Rachel Getting Married, that person is Kym, sister of bride-to-be Rachel Buchman. Let’s say it complicates things...
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. That’s what happens to Diane and Paul, two awkward scientist friends who are unlucky in love but find it in the most unexpected way. Words Matter The two get their hands on a gypsy’s potion (Love Potion No. 8) and learn something interesting about its...
Back when we were kids, it was easy to make friends. Who doesn’t remember having a Teddy, Vern, Gordie, or Chris in their lives? Friends come and go over the years, but the ones that stand by us are the ones that stay in our hearts. Friends That Stand By You I never had any...
When 8-year-old Kevin McCallister wakes up one morning and finds himself Home Alone, he is jubilant. Freedom, he thinks! No more drama and family dysfunction! I can do whatever I want without judgment or fear that someone is going to complain. Woohoo! This is the life! Home Alone Can Be Liberating This house is so full...
