To mjw364: re:

[papera]

hi mike,
thanks so much for your comment and my apologies for replying so late - I simply let too many days go by every time I post a photo and am rarely on TE these days...
I understand how you felt about your father - I lost mine years ago after a devastating and useless fight against cancer but I still remember that sense of being powerless and waiting for death.
Then I lost my mother too, without even being able to say goodbye, and was left with a few pictures and memories.
And even if, as you say, the past is firmly in the past, unfinished business in the past always comes back.
But I agree with you - we should look more out to sea and ask ourselves: "where do I want to go today?"

thanks again for your words,
c.