Summary

Maggie and Ira arrive in the tiny town of Deer Lick and they are the first to arrive in the church. Much to Maggie’s disapproval, Ira begins to play his special, complicated version of solitaire on a church pew while they wait. Serena the widow arrives and Maggie sees she is just as unusual and exotic as ever. She and Maggie go to the bathroom. Serena tells Maggie about Max’s slow mental and physical deterioration. She tells Maggie one time Max forgot who he was and kind of stepped outside his own life. Serena wonders what it would be like to look around one day and not recognize anything. She thinks an outsider’s perspective would be like looking at your life without the curtains. Maggie thinks about how she and Serena have always gone through the various stages of life together but...