Page 16 - Boca Club News - October '21

Page 16, Boca Club News

The Arts

Book Review... “The Anniversary Box”

By Nils A. Shapiro hair that is her pride and The book’s Epilogue relates the secrets written in those
A Love Story joy...not realizing that she 24 messages, so you won’t have to go looking for that
to remember has cut off her long hair and Anniversary Box. All you have to do is get a copy of the
and share. sold it for money to buy Jim novel. And pick up a box of facial tissues while you’re at
I learned about this book from a a beautiful fob and chain to it; you will need it to wipe away a tear or two if you are a
friend who knows me to be a “softie,” hold his watch. softie, like me. (Go ahead, admit it. I won’t tell anyone.)
willing to admit that I watch—and In telling his story of *****
enjoy—Hallmark movies on TV “The Anniversary Box,” A couple of other things you should know about author
once in a while. author Tom Murphy shows Tom Murphy that will help explain the sensitivity that is
Regular readers of this column—after almost 15 years an impressive flair for reflected in this, his fourth published book. He has created
and more than 175 reviews—are aware that my reading lively, fast-moving dialogue, several charities to raise funds to cure lung cancer in memory
tastes tend toward such non-fiction as ancient world and and a clear, deep sense of of his wife, Barb, a marathon runner, who passed away
early American history and anything about nature and the empathy—and comes up from lung cancer. He has also introduced a “roundtable”
animal world, and may well be surprised to find a romantic with a brilliant twist ending discussion series and a workshop series that give people
novel as the focus of my attention this month. that I never saw coming...one an opportunity to match “messages” in the Anniversary
So I will make my point simply, right at the outset: worthy of O. Henry himself. Box to strengths in their own lives and relationships, and
If you are blessed to be able to still celebrate wedding I am betting that, not only will “The Anniversary Box” to teach how to create their own Anniversary Boxes. Tom
anniversaries with the one with whom you took your vows— become a classic in its own right, but that Hallmark will also founded the Human Resiliency Institute at Fordham
no matter how recently or long ago that may have been—a turn it into a film to be shown over and over again in the University in New York. More information about this is
copy of “The Anniversary Box” is a wonderful gift you can years to come. listed at the end of the book.
give to that loved one.
This slim volume tells the story of a young woman.
Peggy, who is about to be married, but as the wedding
day approaches she is becoming a bit unsure of taking the
big step and wishes she could have her parents’ guidance.
But her mother is deceased and her father has suffered a
debilitating stroke, leaving him unable to communicate.
Having recently discovered that her parents had created an
“anniversary box” over the years in which each year they
would write a message together to affirm their love and
suggest ways to make it stronger—24 messages in all, since
she passed away just before their 25th anniversary—then
sealed them away in the anniversary box, Peggy sets out to
try to find that missing box to learn the secrets of keeping
love alive before stepping to the altar herself.
From friends of her parents she gets hints of what their
early marriage was like, before she was old enough to really
know them. And that they considered the classic O. Henry
short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” an important part of the
secret to a lasting love: the tale in which a couple, Della and
Jim, each sacrifices a most prized possession to express love
for the other: he sells his favorite pocket watch to get the
money to buy Della a comb for the stunning waist-length

Dining Out from page 15

A few feet away is Surry Co. Smoke House. As an avid
“smoker” myself, I was looking forward to their offerings.
I got a sampler of two ribs, quarter smoked chicken and
two sides for $19. I was also comped some smoked brisket
to taste. The good news are the sides. The not so good
news is the meat. Meat was unfortunately very chewy and
seemed to be sitting on the counter way too long to serve.
My assumption is that, since the smoking is done offsite,
the delivery of fresh protein was running late for the day.
But the sides of baked beans and mac and cheese were
excellent!
Last stop was County Line. This vendor definitely wins
our accolades, and probably any Fried Chicken throwdown!
The coating on our chicken sandwich had just a hint of heat,
and the perfect crunch coating to have us debating how long
it will take for us to return. Please also get the homemade
Coleslaw because it’s worthy of buying a quart of it on your
visit.
Check Please: Surprisingly, there is no check! Nor will
your cash do you any good.! Every vendor here has the same
electronical checkout card reader, so leave your wallet in
your back pocket. I learned there is a good reason why credit
is king here at the Market. The vendors don’t pay rent. They
simply hand over a royalty fee of their gross sales. The good
news is the vendors have no expenses outside of payroll and
food cost. What a windfall for the Market developers.
For we patrons, this information is not really important.
What we need to focus on is that the Delray Market offers
an alternative to the many restaurants on the avenue. So,
if you’re in a hurry, hate the Delray scene, or like a lot of
variety, this market could be your
next food stop.
For us, we give the Market
concept four golden shopping bags
and just three golden plates on food
quality.