The evening after the unveiling felt almost sacred. I left the crowd behind, leaving the applause and congratulations floating in another world, and followed Julian to the riverbank. The city’s hum faded behind us, replaced by the soft murmur of water moving over stones and the distant cries of birds settling for night.

He had spread a blanket near the water, simple, unpretentious, yet intentional in every detail. A small picnic lay before us—bread, cheese, fruit—and I realized how much ...