“There was a fine-tuning of Richard’s and my temperaments during the years we lived with his heart disease, lymphoma, and lung cancer. Before, our differences had triggered sporadic tension; now our basic natures served us better. Our sensibilities and quirks evolved into something more shared and complex, more mingled.”

“We put our faith in things great and small. We assign to them meaning they may actually have, or meaning that we need for them to have in order to carry on.”