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Maggie Dawes traveled the world as a photographer. She also had a YouTube following. Maggie was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma cancer and she posted her progress, or lack of it, on her YouTube channel. She had opened a gallery in New York City, which she shared with a sculptor, Trinity. Luanne Sommers handled the day-to-day activity at the gallery since Maggie was away a good bit of the time. They were so busy they decided to hire some help. Mark Price, who was just out of college, applied and was hired.

Maggie was reluctant to get too friendly with Mark. She was hoping he wasn’t one of her cancer groupies. But at Christmastime in 2019, she was alone and her latest prognosis was grim. She told her story about how she became a photographer.

In 1996, Maggie was 16 years old and pregnant. Her parents, devout Catholics, would not allow an abortion and didn’t want the scandal so they sent her to her Aunt Linda’s until the baby was born. Aunt Linda lived in Ocracoke, North Carolina, far from her home in Seattle. Aunt Linda was an ex-nun. When she worked at the convent, she helped unwed mothers and worked with adoption agencies. Aunt Linda and her parents arranged for her to continue her schooling and sending her papers and tests to Seattle. She would finish her schooling when she returned home. Maggie’s grades weren’t the best so Aunt Linda hired Bryce Trikett to tutor Maggie. Bryce was smart, handsome, and ambitious. He was admitted to West Point. The Trikett family was amazing. Mrs. Trikett was an accomplished photographer. She and Bryce began to teach Maggie all about photography. Maggie was a natural at photography and it became her passion. As Aunt Linda suspected, Bryce also became Maggie’s love. What would they do when Maggie had to go back home to Seattle and Bryce went to West Point?