“Right," Sadie said. "And Set will just stand there calmly while I read him to death.”

“Sadie?""What?""You with me?"I blinked in confusion and said, "Yes." And I was, wasn't I? I was standing in his arms for goodness sake."This is Sadie?" Hector went on.I blinked again. "Yes.""My Sadie?" he kept at it.This time I blinked for a different reason.His Sadie? Was there a Hector's Sadie? Was I Hector's Sadie? Did Hector think I was his Sadie?Oh…my…God.Before I could process what he said or get close to processing what that meant, I watched him smile, then he bent his head and kissed my lips."Yeah," he said, his face an inch away. "It's my Sadie.”

“Stand with anyone that is right; stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.”

“…he stands there reading statistics about his own death even as it’s happening to him. Very post-modern.”

“As always the thought of his own death calmed him as much as that of others disturbed him: was it perhaps because, when all was said and done, his own death would in the first place mean that of the whole world?”

“You guys take over while I go put on a shirt."Mrs. Kulavich had edged close enough to hear him. She beamed at him. "Don't bother on myaccount," she said. "Sadie!" Mr. Kulavich said in rebuke."Oh, hush, George! I'm old, not dead!""I'll remind you of that the next time I want to watch the Playboy Channel," he growled.”