Before the diagnosis

Vernon, a good guy who seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth, wanted to honor John on his 77th birthday last October by helping him organize his garage. Those of you who have seen the place know what a challenge that was. So V came to Robin and me with a proposal: if we would pay for the lumber, he would build shelves between the second and third bays in the garage. The shelves, once completed, would hold all the tools, supplies and building materials and that were scattered around on bench-tops and the floor.
V worked on the structure all day on John's birthday, nearly chopping off a finger in the process (this he "fixed" with duct tape which John helpfully provided; you can see it on the end of V's index finger). Robin tied a ribbon around the shelves and we brought John out to show him his gift. This photo was snapped at the moment of revelation. As you can see, John's grin was priceless. Oh yes: The finger healed beautifully.
Only a week later, John came down with a case of what we thought was pneumonia but which, as we all know now, turned out to be something far worse. dc