If someone asked me when I felt happiest, I would tell them without hesitation, when I was seventeen! The man with the evil charm gave me a sweet memory. In the least romantic ward, we spent three months together.

Sometimes he read the papers quietly and so did I. When we raised our heads together, we smiled at one another. When I woke up at night, seeing him asleep, I quietly reached out and touched his hand. Then he would wake up suddenly to seize my hand.

When turning off the ...