I would like to tell you about my friend Ray. He was a painter who eventually went blind, a WWII veteran who served in the Air Corps, and a local author who memorialized the early 20th century Seattle he grew up in.

Ray was a slender, birdlike man. By the time I knew him, Ray's eyesight was failing and he walked with a cane. But his blue eyes shone with humor and mischief nonetheless.

Ray and I would often walk together after our writers group meetings, his hands clasped in mine as I helped support his slow, careful steps. He dressed like the gentleman he was, with a jaunty little cap perch...