A few years ago, one of O’Connell’s longtime patients, Constance Byrd, asked him to take her picture. She got dressed up, put lipstick on and did her nails.
When he asked why she wanted a portrait taken, she said it was for her two daughters. If they ever came to look for her after she died, she wanted them to see her presentable enough to know how much their mother loved them.
This first photo, shown here, inspired his other patients to have their pictures taken.