A Final Word

"A good wife is good, but the best wife is not so good as no wife at all. Now that's my outspoke mind, and I've been called a long-headed feller here and there." 

--Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

Well that's one way a lookin' at it--and not without cause, some might say. I myself have had seven years now (or is it eight?) of lonely peace, even despite deteriorating health. In fact, it has been all-in-all a peaceful kind of deterioration 😅 Ah but one misses a woman eventually and the chaos and ruin she can exert upon one's comfort. And a cozy companion with whom to sit by the hearth when the struggle of the day is done.