“You have made this part of my life, this second half of it—even more, I suppose, more than that—so bearable. So wonderful, really, that it’s only in moments like these, when I abandon myself to even thinking about my childhood, that it comes back to me at all. Most times, for most of this time that we have been together—in ‘marital harmony,’ as so many of those television folks want to call it—you have been a kind of balm against my past. You have made me happy and so, so pleased that I have the endless gift of another day with you …”

The man nods without taking his eyes off the interstate. There is construction up ahead and he begins the process of slowing, pumping his brakes to let the cars behind him know what’s happening. The woman spots the nod and presses on, happy to finally have some reaction from her man.