She said, Bullshit! so aggressively I thought I’d fall out of my chair. She noted my startled expression. Say that again, I said. With love.

And I excused my lack of pretension. Kind of like a warning. Then I handed her the flower. That’s just divine, she squealed. I took it back.

The intensity of her love, of her being, paralyzed him. She would call him and say, Come to me right now, and he’d say, I can’t move my legs.