“So this is about Mr. Rogers? I wasn’t the one who reported him. I mentioned repeatedly that he was dangerous.”

“I told him he has my consent to disclose the nature of our relationship to your boss, so we’ll see what happens,” Jill replied. “You’re not a good person.” She buttoned up her coat and adjusted her navy hat.

“Jill, wait,” I said. “Let’s talk about this.”

“I don’t have time,” she said.

I watched the icicles melt from our barred window and imagined Jill commuting to the airport. In a couple of hours, she would be thirty thousand feet above the earth and breathing the same air as three hundred strangers. The illuminated nerve centers of our human cities would pulse below as the plane winged its way toward a refreshingly light continent, free of her memories. She had told me she missed being in flight, so I bought her a white noise machine. However, it quickly ended up in the storage closet. It couldn’t simulate the feeling of distance, of being confined in a space with no one you were required to know. I could see her distributing pillows and blankets. I could see her offering beverages to passengers passing the time in their seats. I could hear her voice collectively soothing them over the intercom. When she finally exited the aircraft, the mouths would speak a language she could not understand. Maybe when she deplaned a plane in another country she could pretend she was an entirely different person.

I had saved Mr. Rogers and Jill’s last conversation. I found it and turned the speakers on our stereo up as loud as they reached.

JILL: I think I’m at the point where I want to leave him, but I’m afraid.

MR. ROGERS: Why are you afraid?

JILL: I’m afraid I won’t find anyone better. I don’t want to be alone. What was it like when you lost your wife?

MR. ROGERS: I didn’t know what to do with myself at first. But I didn’t love my wife any more or any less than the women before her. In the end, of course, everyone either leaves you or you leave them. Everyone is afraid of old age, but it’s not so terrible. If you’ve been lucky enough not to let misery get the best of you, old age can be the age of love.

JILL: What if I never find someone to love me again?

MR. ROGERS: Don’t worry. You have your whole life ahead of you to love someone. You are so young. You are so beautiful.

frequently asked questions about your craniotomy

If you’re reading this page, chances are you’ve recently heard that you need to have a craniotomy. Try not to worry. Although, yes, this is brain surgery, you’re more likely to die from the underlying condition itself, such as a malignant tumor or subdural hematoma. Think of it this way: insomuch as being alive is safe, which it is not, having a craniotomy is safe. We fill our days with doing laundry, replacing our brake pads at the auto shop, or making a teeth-cleaning appointment with the dentist, in the expectation that everything will be fine. But it won’t. There will be a day that kills you or someone you love. Such a perspective is actually quite comforting. Taken in that light, a craniotomy can be a relaxing experience, rather than one of abject terror.