At Jason Gleckman's wedding

My former colleague at the Chinese University, Jason Gleckman, got married in November, 2011. It was the last wedding that Fawzia and I attended together. At the reception, Fawzia and I shared a table with Mike McClellan, Chair of the Music Department at the university, and a professor from another department, both of whom I had known since my arrival at the Chinese University. 

For some reason, Fawzia insisted on posing for a few photos with Mike. This gesture now seems poignant because a few months after Fawzia's death, Mike was found unconscious in his flat at the Chinese University and passed away a few days later.

Fawzia's favorite family photo

This photo was taken at Mobile, Alabama, during a visit in 2001. Roy was working at Tallahassee, Florida, and Fawzia was still recovering after the surgery and chemotherapy for breast cancer. In 1989, after graduating from the University of Texas, my first job was at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. After she completed a Master's in Library Science in 1990, also from Texas, Fawzia's first job as a librarian was at Spring Hill College in Mobile.

Fawzia and I were visiting Roy in Florida and we decided on  trip to Mobile, about 5 or 6 hours away by road. Roy was driving the Mitsubishi Montero SUV that Fawzia had bought for him (I thought that an SUV was too large for a single guy) and we listened to Willie Nelson's "Jeatro" album which had just come out. Our first visit was to Fr. James Dorrill, who, as the Chair of the English Department, had hired me to teach at South Alabama. We then visited my former colleague Tom Brennan, who was living with Lei, his wife, in a lovely seaside home at Dauphin Island. He had retired a few years earlier.

The photo was taken by Sabrina, Tom's daughter, who was also visiting. The photo was Fawzia's favorite of the family. She had it enlarged and copied and placed them at all our places.