The Art of Departure

It was like a wedding, except the bride dies in the end

Betsy Davis. Photography: Niels Alpert.

I’d never known exactly when someone was going to die… until one Sunday a few years ago. I was with my friend Betsy and I struggled to put on a red Donna Karan wrap dress that belonged to her. I knew I was doing it wrong because Betsy kept groaning in frustration. She couldn’t tell me how to fix it because she was no longer able to…