The Borowick family home seems emptied of its life.

Howie and Laurel get their weekly chemotherapy treatment, in what Howie calls ‘his and hers chairs’.

A lifetime’s worth of photographs piles up, as the family home is cleared. Howie and Laurel’s children plan to sell the house, and close the chapter.

Clearing the house unearths cherished mementoes, such as the cake topper from Howie and Laurel’s wedding.

The Borowick family home stands empty, on the final day of cleaning.

Howie and Laurel embrace in their bedroom at home.

The couple take a quick break to Florida before starting a new round of chemotherapy.

Howie raises a smile from Laurel by breaking into a bouncing dance in the kitchen.

Laurel is fitted for a new wig at Rodolfo Valentino Salon. She gave away most of her old wigs, from a previous cancer diagnosis.

Howie speaks on the bathroom telephone to their oncologist, in March 2013. The news is good for both of them: scans reveal that their tumors are shrinking.

Wearing a playful wig, Laurel does the dishes in the family kitchen.

Laurel and Howie plan for their funerals, to make the process easier for their children.

Howie and Laurel walk their daughter Nancy down the aisle on her wedding day.

Bracelet identifiers on Howie’s left wrist include notices that he is a fall risk, and a Do Not Resuscitate instruction.

Howie, who always had the last word in any conversation, characteristically wrote his own eulogy, which he left in an envelope with his daughter.

People attend Howie’s funeral.

Laurel spends her last moments with Howie—who is to be laid to rest wearing his favorite sports jersey, baseball cap and jeans—before his casket is closed.

Snow begins to fall, as friends gather at Howie’s graveside.

At her first Passover meal since her husband’s death, Laurel sits alone at the head of the table.

For her 59th birthday, Laurel spends the day with Nancy at a ceramics studio. Tumors in her hip and pelvic area have made walking difficult.

Family friend Judy Fuhrer takes Laurel through some restorative yoga, to help ease her breathing and pain, in the Borowick’s hallway.

By November 2014, Laurel is no longer in treatment and has begun home hospice care. Her tumors are growing, she struggles to breathe, and uses an oxygen machine.

Laurel rests on the couch, while her elderly mother, Marion, reads to her.

Laurel’s son Matthew gives her a kiss on the forehead, but she barely responds. She can hardly get out of bed, and speaks only in a low whisper.

The family gathers around Laurel during her last moments.

Laurel’s mother and children say their final few words to her, before the room is cleared.

Wrapped on a stretcher, Laurel’s body is carried downstairs and from the family home.

Many of the same people gather for Laurel’s funeral as did for Howie’s a year earlier.

Laurel asked to be buried in a sustainable wooden casket. Her son Matthew looks on before she is removed from the hearse.

Members of the community gather in support for Laurel’s children and her 87-year-old mother, Marion (center), during shiva, the Jewish period of mourning.

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