Author: Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D.

As a family physician, I explore the HEART of HEALTH in my work, recreation, community, and through writing. My blog, Watercress Words, informs and inspires us to live in health. I believe we can turn our health challenges into healthy opportunities. When we do, we can share the HEART of health with our families, communities, and the world. Come explore and share with me.

Changing How You Think About Life and Death

In this post I explain the days following Halloween that remember saints and other deceased perso. This can be a chance to reflect on and prepare for our own mortality.

Updated November 10, 2025-Originally titled November’s Timely Topic

We observe Halloween as its own holiday, but it is also the “eve” of another observance.

Also known as All Hallows’ Eve, it introduces the onset of Christian religious observances remembering deceased persons.

  • All Saints Day is a Christian holiday honoring Saints who have passed on to the afterlife usually observed on November 1st.
  • All Souls’ Day, in Roman Catholicism, a day for the commemoration of all the faithful departed, usually on November 2.
  • Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration of life and death. While the holiday originated in Mexico, it is celebrated all over Latin America with colorful calaveras (skulls) and calacas (skeletons), also on November 1 and 2.

Whether you observe any of these, death is a topic that has or will touch all of us and our families. I have written these blog posts that help make that life transition smoother.

Dying with Ease- a book review

Dr. Spiess doesn’t suggest that confronted with terminal illness we refuse treatment and give up. He advocates thinking about and planning for the dying process long before we develop an illness that might be fatal.

Keep reading

For personal reflection

Who do you know who is facing death soon? What are you learning from observing their experience?

How are you preparing for your own death, whether imminent or unknown? How does considering this affect the way you are living now?

Exploring the HEART of health, life, and death

I hope you don’t need to read any of these books now, but the reality is many of you do, or will eventually. People I know who have faced death with peace and confidence fare much better, as do their families. Be knowledgeable and prepared for your sake and for theirs.

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

stethoscope with a heart

Dr. Aletha

October Celebration and Commemoration

October encompasses significant events such as Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, acknowledging both Christopher Columbus’ exploration and the legacy of Native Americans. Other key occurrences include the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, a mass shooting in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania in 2018, and Halloween. The month invites a mix of celebration, commemoration, and history recognition.

updated October 7, 2025

October is a fun month, not too demanding. It’s the first full month of spring/fall, depending on where you live, and the month before the annual Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season starts.

I’m sharing some October topics with you in this post.

The Halloween Season

Pumpkins are everywhere . Halloween and fall decor and displays get bigger and more outlandish every year. And almost every food or drink has a variation flavored with pumpkin.

a bunch of pumpkins

Football and other Sports

And football season is in full swing. Whether kids, high school, college, or pro, fans are in the stadiums or in front of televisions cheering their favorite team. Some folks just show up for the food as tailgating has become a sport in itself

Whether you like football or not, this is good advice.

Columbus Day, October 13

The United States has one federal holiday this month, Columbus Day, the second Monday of October. This day commemorates October 12, 1492, the day Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, reached the Americas. (Although he never landed in what is now the United States.)

“Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator. In 1492, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain in the Santa Maria, with the Pinta and the Niña ships alongside, hoping to find a new route to India.

Between 1492 and 1504, he made a total of four voyages to the Caribbean and South America and has been credited – and blamed – for opening up the Americas to European colonization.” from Biography.com

Indigenous Peoples’ Day-October 14

Before Columbus and other Europeans arrived in the Americas, indigenous people already lived in North America. I’m not going to recount the long history of their interactions, but by presidential proclamation, we now commemorate them on the second Monday in October-Indigenous Peoples Day.

 NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 10, 2022, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.  I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who contribute to shaping this Nation. 

I wrote about Native Americans in this post about watercress and in another about my trip to New Mexico.

The Rich History of Watercress in Native American Culture

In 1889, the Locvpokv Muscogee Creeks established the village of Talasi near the Arkansas River, later called Tulsa. The Council Oak remains a cultural landmark, where Native Americans hold ceremonies. This article explores watercress and its culinary uses, highlighting its significance to local indigenous communities and the environment.

Keep reading

The Art and Science of New Mexico

Taos is an art mecca both within the town and at the Taos Pueblo, which is also a must see for those interested in  Native American history and culture. At the pueblo, tribe members display and sell handmade arts and crafts.

Keep reading

The Great Chicago Fire

On the night of October 8, 1871, fire spread across Chicago, Illinois. While the cause of the blaze is unknown, its origin was at what today is home to a Chicago Fire Department training facility.

An estimated 300 people died and 100,000 were left homeless by the three-day inferno that erased 2,100 acres of the city. The center of Chicago and the heart of the business district were wiped out. Yet, just 20 years after the fire, the city’s population had grown from 300,000 to 1 million people. from architecture.org

Today Chicago is the third largest city in the United States. (2022 stats) See my photos of Chicago in this post.

Tuesday Travels- Chicago Illinois

Chicago, now the third largest United States city, was once destroyed by a fire of uncertain origin. It hosts an annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and offers tourists multiple attractions and experiences.

Keep reading

Squirrel Hill Pennsylvania-October 27

We will never get used to hearing and reading about mass shootings but some are particularly heinous, those that happen in a school, healthcare facility, or house of worship. That happened on October 27, 2018, with which I had an unexpected connection. I wrote about it here.

Halloween-October 31

Whether you like it or not, October is known for Halloween. While some reject it as pagan or evil, others find a way to make it fun and enjoyable without dark overtones.

Halloween, contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, a holiday observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. The celebration marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls’ Day.

from brittanica.com

We helped at our church’s carnival dressed as a country duet, the rhinestone cowboy.

exploring the HEART of health

Whatever ways you choose to observe the “holidays” of October, have fun, stay safe, respect others, and please follow and share Watercress Words.

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

a world globe with two crossed bandaids

Doctor Aletha

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