'Well, I suppose I could tell you that at the last minute a bone marrow donor was found, and her leukemia was cured.  And I suppose I could tell you she finished graduate school, and we got married, and we went on to have two beautiful kids. ' 

(One-second pause.)

'And so I will.  Because that's exactly what happened.'

Good story, except he made me lose it completely, and I was in traffic.  I was lucky I didn't get in an accident.  Homespun and proudly corny, but one of the great storytellers.  He will be missed.