1) This is a very well-written, resonant, poignant piece.

2) What you say about "last times" is particularly applicable. The last time I spoke to my father will forever be etched in my memory. It was over the telephone, during one of my work visits to Israel. I'd been working late, and decided, on a whim, to give him a call. He'd just read the first draft manuscript of my novel Children of the Folded Valley, and had a superb suggestion that greatly improved it (my father, an English teacher, was my most severe critic). I thanked him, and he laughed and said I could pass off the idea as mine. I didn't speak to him ever again, but the novel went on to become my most popular by far. I'm not sure that would have happened without his suggestion.