Habit

Out of habit, she liked to walk on the outside when the two of them were on sidewalks. He never said anything, but felt like she was protecting him, and was deeply moved by gratitude toward her, for this small gesture. For fifty years, they had always been like this. She was telling all of this to me. “You know, sometimes I have this irresistible impulse now to just push him into the traffic, so I have to make myself walk on the outside, just to quell this urge.” She said: In a way, I am still protecting him.

Photo credit: Kevin Coles