Margaret and Bill

This is my sister Margaret and her husband Bill. I photographed them in their dining room in a low natural light in Midland, Texas on October 20, 1995. I had come to Midland to visit them and to pick up photographs that had been in a show in Odessa. I was getting ready to leave this morning after breakfast. My camera was on the table and Margaret put her arms around Bill. I knew this was a special moment. I had never seen them be physically affectionate with each other. And while we talked and I photographed, Margaret caressed him and nuzzled his cheek.

As I said, I knew this was a special moment but I didn't know how special. Within one month Margaret who had been treated for breast cancer would find that it had returned in her spine and she was a paraplegic. Two weeks before she died in September, 1996, Bill found out he had inoperable lung cancer. Bill died in January, 1997.

My sister and I had been very close for most of our adult lives and Bill had become like a brother to me. I miss them every day.

More about Margaret here and here