These days, a loving gesture is leaving the other alone in bed, taking the baby out of earshot, and letting your loved one sleep. Things change, eh?
I was in a cafe with my mom after the easter parade. We spied a very short, very old italian couple dressed in their sunday best. They walked slowly out of the restaurant. He pushed down his fedora, as if to check it was still there. She shuffled past us, revealing a fledgling-bald scalp at the back of her head. Their unspoken cameraderie, the sense of occasion, the stunned air of people who do not often leave their home - much less go for espresso at a cafe. I was in love.
I described them to kiff that night, once G. had nodded off, and he told me about his own observations of a couple. On the front porch that night, he had overheard a man and a woman arguing quite loudly - at least the man was quite loud, his voice rising by the second. "I don't want to see you anymore!" he shouted. "Leave me alone. I don't want to see you anymore!"
"You think I'm short. You think I'm stupid. And you hate my pants!"
The front door had slammed before kiff could determine which house it had come from. shame.
