My brother was again talking about the radioactive creek near our childhood condo, and I mentioned the only person we know who lived there who actually had cancer was our stepdad, Dan.
Dave said, “Yeah, but he said paint thinner is what gave him the cancer.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When he got cancer he did some research, and paint thinner’s a carcinogen. He said he’d been elbow deep in paint thinner when he painted grandma’s house.”
“Seriously, he didn’t think the cancer came from the chain-smoking instead? Hey – that explains why he stopped painting.”
Now that I’ve been oil painting, I’ve wondered why Dad dropped it as a hobby. He used a palette knife for the later paintings. I remember he had some paintbrushes wrapped in tinfoil in the freezer, so he wouldn’t have to clean them. When he painted anything outside the house he either froze his paintbrushes or threw them away.
Blaming paint thinner for his cancer, not the smoking. Remarkable. I suppose the painting was easier to quit.