The park is not that cold, and as we wander around hand in hand, eating hot dogs, feeling a hundred times better than I have in months. Arrick is on good form tonight as the sun goes down, and New York is still bustling with dog walkers and people strolling the park. He has been making jokes, laughing along with me, and attentive as ever.

He seems happy to be here in the city again, a lot more comfortable than we are in France, and I wonder if he, too, hates being there as much as I ...