Summary

Joan finds herself thinking exclusively about Quintana. She needs her daughter with her. It has been nearly five years since her death and Joan "can now afford to think about her," she no longer [cries] when [she hears] her name" (151). She leafs through the books Quintana liked and gifted her. She goes to Central Park and sits on Quintana's memorial bench. She remembers Quintana in the hospital and their belief in her recovery. She writes that she "had no idea that 'recovery,' like 'adoption,' remains one of those concepts that sounds more plausible than it turns out to be" (154). Finally, she remembers Quintana's belief that not dwelling on things could help to correct them. Joan repeats her daughter's words: "Like when someone dies, don't dwell on it" (155).

Joan remembers that Quintana disliked W.H. Auden's poem "Funeral Blues" as it exemplified...