Each January I go over the previous year’s images to find what resonated with me the most. I edited hundreds of photos to find the ones which grabbed me emotionally. It was a fun lookback as well as a difficult project. I begin with an August shot of Marla and I at the Golden Gate Bridge View Vista Point in Marin County. It shows how we can go from supreme happiness one moment and a week later Marla is in a Santa Rosa hospital for six nights with heart failure!

Marla and I at almost the same spot when we were dating in college!

I chose this photo of Marla as it shows fortitude, resilience, her unique warrior spirit! This was at Parker hospital in September. She was given the OK to do some short walks around the area.

The twins helping to take Mar’s blood pressure in December.

Our daughter Lisa with her Mom.

Mar and our daughter Stacy.

We were able to attend the Denver Art Museum’s “Unveiled” gala in October. Marla is in front of the Burmese Buddha and shrine we donated to the Asian Art Department. It was the first time we saw it in 4 years as it had been in storage during construction.

Mar was so happy to be at this event!

In May we visited Paxton in Boston where he attends Boston College. The photo is at the Museum of Fine Art.

At our favorite South Lake Tahoe restaurant, Cafe Fiore. We were in Tahoe for a Celebration of Life for a departed friend.

A dinner for two to celebrate Mar’s birthday.

I must have said something!

Cruising around on Stacy and Stan’s golf cart at their lake house in Texas.

With Stacy and Vaughan at the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Probably our favorite dinner for 2021 was at the Brasserie Vagenende in Paris last July.

Now these were fabulous profiteroles!

Our stay at The Address in Cassis, France, was a wonderful surprise.

This shot of Cassis harbor tells a beautiful story of summer and the sea.

We shared a fabulous home rental in Bandol, France, with our daughter Lisa and family in July.

A contemplative moment with the Boys.

Paxton and I explored the old town of Antibes.

I love this moment with Marla at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.

Marla and the Boys by the Church of St Germain des Pres in Paris.

A Paris morning at the Hotel Henri IV in the 5th arrondissement.

Late fall up at Evergreen Lake.

The family waits for a table for breakfast at the Blackbird Cafe in Kittridge. The Girls loved the shower of falling yellow leaves.

This almost looks like a lineup of actors for a Marvel super-hero movie. We are at the Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County, a favorite place of my Mom and Dad.

The twins were enthralled with the fish at the Steinhart Aquarium at San Francisco’s California Museum of Sciences.

Dinner in Lafayette, California, with some of our favorite friends.

The fabulous “Gang of Five” in the Edge Restaurant at Denver’s Four Seasons before the ballet.

Our oldest grandson, Paxton, was honored as a “Young Man of Distinction” at the Denver Ballet Guild’s Bal de Ballet.

Our grandson, Logan, with Lisa and Ray, at a luncheon for a “Young Man of Distinction” event. Logan will be honored in June.

One of my great joys this year was teaching the Girls to make scratch pancakes their great grandmothers’ recipe!

Another one of our favorite events was to have Paxton and Logan over for an Italian dinner, elevated chatter on politics and current events around the world, a stay overnight, and then their making waffles the next morning!

In August I took Stacy and her family to see where my Mom and all her relatives are buried near Berkeley. It was the first time seeing the new granite plaques Marla and I ordered a few years ago.

Marla holds granddaughter Kate’s hand as we walk to dinner on the Katy Trail in Dallas.

I wasn’t sure I could summit the 14 mile climb up High Grade Road last year. I wasn’t in fabulous shape, but I made it! It has always been a test for me with many 10 to 15% pitches. My new bike performed beautifully, especially on the descent.

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.