This picture always takes my breath away. Have you ever seen a more beautiful couple? Dennis' parents soon after their marriage, they were each 19. Lanaya was, according to her daughter, always the most beautiful woman in the room. "A real looker", according to a high school classmate 60 years later. Tall and slim, always immaculately groomed, a terrific eye for style and color, Lanaya often minimized her own beauty, always busy with her work and the task at hand.
But she's shining in this picture, so proud with her young husband in his Navy uniform. She left a note for her disapproving father, got on the bus in Seattle and rode down to San Francisco to marry her high school sweetheart. She never wavered in her devotion to Jim and their marriage. Here, she's looking forward to a bright life of love, family, and House Beautiful. For the most part, she attained all of these things.
Lanaya would be horrified if she could see herself now. She's extremely debilitated at the nursing home unable to communicate or to take care of herself in any way. She always insisted that 'nobody should pull the plug on her'. However, I really wonder if she would make that decision now when she she's in such a compromised state. Jim passed away a year ago February. Dennis visits regularly. But what is there for her?
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