STAUNTON - It's a photograph of three hands.
The idea for painting the fingernails pink on two of the hands belonged to 3-year-old Lynlee Hatcher. She wanted her grandmother's nails to match hers. Then her uncle joined in, painting his nails the same color.
Three generations of Hatchers, bonded by their fingernails.
But the bond for the family goes much deeper than that and a lot of the reason why is Lynlee's grandmother, the Hatcher family matriarch, Judy Hatcher.
The photograph was taken at Augusta Health on Sunday, Mother's Day. Judy Hatcher is in hospice care at the Fishersville facility.
On April 30, the 73-year-old Hatcher fell at her home, breaking her hip. She was taking a step up from one room to another in her Staunton home when she fell.
That was a Monday. By Wednesday that week, she had gone through successful surgery and was undergoing physical therapy. But a family friend, who is a nurse, was visiting Hatcher and noticed she was struggling to breathe.
Tests revealed she had pneumonia as well as blood clots in her lungs. More tests also found that a spot on her lung — she had been diagnosed with lung cancer in April 2016 — had grown.
Still, by the end of the week, her condition was starting to improve. Then, on Monday evening, May 7, a week after the fall, things got worse. Jarrett Hatcher, her eldest son, got a call from his sister-in-law telling him to get to the hospital.
Judy Hatcher's cancer had spread to her bones and possibly to her brain. By the next day the family had decided hospice care was the best course. Doctors had told the family that she had weeks, maybe less, to live.
This past Monday, Jarrett Hatcher was still trying to grasp just how much the lives of those around him had changed in two weeks.
"This has been sudden and it's been, obviously, earth-shattering," he said by phone. "But so many people go through the same thing every day. You realize how precious life is."
Sunday, in the hospital, family gathered around Judy on what they all understood would likely be her final Mother's Day.
"It was just a celebration," Jarrett Hatcher said. "We gave our cards to her and showed her her flowers and she got to see her granddaughter. We just kind of celebrated mom."
The Hatcher name is a famous one in Staunton, especially among basketball fans. Judy Hatcher's husband, Paul, is the former boys coach at Robert E. Lee High School and has the most basketball wins of all time in Virginia High School League history. When he retired in 2011 after 43 years, he had 897 wins and four state championships. Jarrett Hatcher then took over and coached the team the next six years, winning a state title in 2017.
In addition to Jarrett, the Hatchers have another son, Brandon, who is Lynlee's dad. He helped his dad on the sidelines for many years.
The Hatcher brothers can thank the alphabet for bringing their parents together. Judy's maiden name was Hayslett. At Bridgewater College's orientation, students sat alphabetically, so Judy and Paul were next to one another. They became friends that first year and, by their sophomore year, were dating.
Three days a week, Bridgewater students had to attend chapel. Paul and Judy sat next to one another during those services. Judy said they may have been the only ones who enjoyed going.
"We could talk about basketball in chapel instead of listening," Judy Hacher said in a 2015 interview.
Suetta Harrison was Judy's college roommate.
"[Paul] was a phenomenal basketball player," Harrison said. "And [Judy] was a cheerleader. It was that kind of thing. And Judy liked the popular boys. You can't blame her. He was someone she really fell for."
Paul and Judy were married on June 18, 1966, and both got jobs teaching in Staunton. Paul Hatcher was then named Lee’s head coach in 1968 and, for the next four decades and change, basketball was the family’s life.
“It was a hard life,” Judy Hatcher said in 2015. “But it was a very rewarding life because of … all these people we met that became like family, really.”
Kevin Madden first met Judy Hatcher in elementary school. He would go on to become the high school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball, but Judy takes credit for discovering him. She saw him playing basketball on the playground in fifth grade and, when she got home, told her husband she had seen the best basketball player he would ever coach. Turned out she was right.
“She was a big part, she was around at all the games,” said Madden. “She would ride the bus. She was almost like a mother to a lot of our guys.”
Judy Hatcher’s life was a bit overshadowed by her husband’s success, but she made her own contributions to the community that a lot of people didn’t know about.
She is currently president of the Thursday Morning Music Club. She’s volunteered her services as a pianist throughout Staunton, including at Augusta Health, Western State Hospital, the Salvation Army and, at times, Olivet Presbyterian Church. She volunteered at the Frontier Culture Museum. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
“She's always been good to people,” said longtime friend Sandy Hite. “She was an elementary school teacher and there were families in Staunton, very needy families. They would need groceries and she and Paul would take groceries by. And she would pick up the kids and take them to her house – she would know that maybe they didn’t have food or they needed to get out of the house. She’d take them to her house and they might bake cookies.”
And she was a prolific letter writer. Most people who know her have received a note or card from Judy Hatcher. There are plenty of people who only know her through the letters, including the inmates and soldiers and missionaries to whom she wrote.
Mark Newlen, who played basketball at Lee in the early 1970s before going to the University of Virginia, remembers getting several letters from her following the death of his wife four years ago. She just wrote to express her sympathy and encourage Newlen during some dark times.
"There are people in the world who are takers," Newlen said. "But she is a giver."
All of this she did while facing the specter of mental illness.
Her first symptoms appeared in 1988. She was eventually diagnosed with manic depression, an illness now more commonly called bipolar disorder. The condition causes extreme mood swings that include both highs and lows.
And while writing letters and playing the piano and volunteering for various organizations was a tremendous help for others, it also served as therapy for her as she struggled with her mental health.
And she never hid from her illness, even talking with The News Leader in 2010 for a story on living with mental health issues.
"It was always difficult to see her go through the mental health issues," said Sonnie Bible, who has known Judy Hatcher since college. "But she took those in stride. She talked about it. I know she spoke to several groups about her experiences. She's always been so open about her illnesses and willing to talk about them and share experiences about them."
Kathy Lafon was involved in a ShenanArts production called "Next to Normal." Lafon played the lead role, a mother who has bipolar disorder. For research, Lafon interviewed both Judy and Paul Hatcher about living with mental illness. She actually took the role as a way to honor Judy, a longtime family friend.
"Brave is the word I think of when I think of her," said Lafon. "She could have tried to be private, understandably, about this, but instead she put it out there so others knew they weren't alone. I just think that shows true bravery and courage."
For those who have been with her through the health struggles, they know what is possible. That's why, now, despite her current condition, there is hope that she will pull through.
Sandy Hite visited her in the hospital Saturday and left feeling like the end was very near. But then she talked to the family on Sunday and was encouraged with what she heard.
"She's pretty strong," said Hite. "I guess she's a fighter."