Doug's Cakes

When my cousin had 77% of her body burned in the World Trade Center on September 11, she later said "If I had been standing a few feet forward, I would have been caught in the explosion. But if I were standing a few feet back, I wouldn't have been burned at all."

The question I ask is "What is it that determines where a person stands? I question the twist of fate that selects one person and not another for misfortune in life. I'm trying to understand how the decision is made that determines whether a person stands in the middle and not a few feet forward or backward." This questioning inspired "Peace Streams", a multimedia DVD with brain wave music, dedicated to my cousin.

Doug designed the birthday cake for his 60th birthday celebration. How was it decided that he wouldn't make it to the party? Was this some sort of an exponential bad joke interjected when least expected, or was this a benevolent act granted to a rare being who earned an early out? Will we ever know or ever understand?

Doug's cake for the occasion was multidimensional in concept. If you looked at the cake from one perspective, you saw the ocean, blue with swirls of water, such that you could imagine dolphins frolicing in the surf. From another perspective, the blue took on the feeling of space, perhaps another planet with craters and irregular terrain.

Doug was a person who lived in both domains, ocean and space, and he loved life on planet earth, his family and friends. Like Zorba the Greek, he danced to the rhythms of life.

In his absence, Lisa Cherkasky created his birthday cake using the design Doug had sent to her. Producing the cake was an act of love, a work of art. Surrounding the blue cake were two other cakes that Doug had designed for media performances in the past.

Before the cake and champagne were served at the memorial celebration, Doug's father told wonderful stories about Doug, which brought tears and joy to everyone who was there.

SEE DOUG'S FAMILY