"She was a marvelous woman. If opinionated and nosy." Quite a bit of both. Perhaps it was distance and nostalgia that colored his memory of her; perhaps it was some manner of respect for the dead. But she had asked things that made him think when he bothered to pay attention seriously- when she was not so entwined with judging everyone for living differently. "I cannot imagine attempting to raise a child in the midst of what more or less a constant war. I do not envy you that."