R.I.P Evelyn Lauder

Evelyn Lauder

This month sadly saw the passing of Evelyn Lauder, the Clinique creator who had the extraordinary vision to be the first person to brand a disease - breast cancer - paving the way for others such as Bono and the RED campaign against AIDS.

In 1993, soon after Evelyn and her friend Alexandra Penney, then editor at Self, published what would become the most ubiquitous symbol ever associated with a disease – the pink ribbon – in the magazines second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue, my mother was receiving radiation treatments on her first malignant tumor.

Out of the Darkness - New York Times, Modern Love

Story by Mark Lukach
Published in The New York Times on November 25, 2011

THERE was a time when my wife, Giulia, said “Yes” to almost everything I suggested. But before she consented, there was always an unnatural pause, a pause so small it may have gone unnoticed by others. But it was painfully obvious to me. That pause did not come from her; it came from the antipsychotic medication she had to take.

Makeover: Funeral Food

Turning this...

(eeewwww)

into this...

(mmmmmmmm)

Burnt casserole trays dripping with neon yellow cheese, bubbling from a can of cream of broccoli soup used to smother an expanse of elbow macaroni was all the rage....in 1985. And for good reason - it was quick and easy.

The Mighty Casserole was a powerful ally back in the day. It allowed working mothers the opportunity to juggle office and home, it could affordably feed an endless guest list during holidays and it was so quick to make, that it became standard fare at funeral gatherings. So and so just passed? no problem, you could have a casserole to the family home in 20 minutes flat. 

Mothering My Mother

by Andriana Cassimatis
The phone call with my brother that day remains very clear in the folds of my usually foggy memory. It had been over a year since our mother fell out of remission from breast cancer and as the new aggressive version of the disease was attacking multiple organs at once, frequent trips to the hospital became a normal occurrence in her threatened and fragile life.

“I think it’s time to come home,” he said, the words rising from the receiver like a toxic vile of chemotherapy signaling the precise moment I was terrified would happen.

Makeover: Death's Visuals

Turning this...

into this...

or this...

into this...

Google ‘funeral announcement cards' and I guarantee the following images: a dove soaring through the sky, sunbeams breaking through clouds, a stained glass window, burning candles, a breaking wave at sunset, some pink roses and a forest path that leads nowhere. 

But what happens if these images don’t properly represent the person who has died?

Well, tough chickens, you don’t have much of a choice.