[1981] He was about a year into chemotherapy, in this photo, for three kinds of cancer. Dad spent the final two years of his life as a professional patient and his body finally gave out on 12 September 1982. The last person to arrive for his funeral was a mystery woman, stunningly beautiful in black with a touch of red who, I found out later, had loved Dad, had wanted to marry him and Dad had declined. Perhaps a capacity for happiness is a grace not everyone receives.

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av_producer @ 2003-09-30 said:
Though not the case here, I am often surprised that what we discover after the fact sometimes reveals more about us and what we were blind to then the other person.

the_nannish_one @ 2003-09-30 said:
Certainly a family resemblance here. Sounds like Dad might just have been the stand up guy he appears to be too!

virgorama @ 2003-09-30 said:
You said on a previous pic that your father loved your mother greatly. Perhaps that was it for him. However beautiful this woman was, there’s no rule that says he would fall in love with her. He has a look of someone (probably like all of us) who has an un-revealed private life and thoughts. My father was like that too.

hamlet @ 2003-09-30 said:
“Grace to be born and live as variously as possible" - Frank O`Hara. You mentioned grace, and it made me think of this. One of my favorite quotes. Open to interpretation, I believe. I find that I am always able to put a good spin on it, or am able to use it to put a good spin on something else.

sckelly @ 2003-09-30 said:
Because my grandaddy had fresh flowers on his grave whenever Granny went to visit it, she joked that he had a mystery woman of his own. I wonder...I agree with nannish. You two look just alike!

jungalero @ 2003-09-30 said:
He looks so regal here. R.I.P. Dad.

ribena @ 2003-09-30 said:
I’ve said these words before, among your photos, but nothing else suits today: powerful, and moving.