I said, "I believe in my beliefs shaped by the path I have walked between mountains and across meadows." She looked up from her book and said, "What have you been reading so late into the night?" I said, "The pinched nerve in my neck is killing me so I have been reading about near-death experiences." She said, "Perhaps you should dwell on more than the single-mindedness that results from a maddening pain." I said, "Can't you see that I am seeing crooked holding my neck at a precarious angle to life the whole day long?" She said, "Come. Lay your head on my breast so that you fit with me exactly how you are and I will ease your pain."