you're welcome, geonuc. thank you for your tact but i could not be bothered by what you saw in the story.
sigma, nobody loves a self-panicker.
i was impressed by cid's insight. i never caught the reference to loresinger. he is substancially correct in his statements but i would like to add some detail.
after i read the story i asked michael where i was and explained that he was clearly the main character. furthermore, it was equally clear that he was alone but had not always been so. i wasn't mary (although the instructions for taking care of the scarf *are* mine) so where was i? were we divorced? why? did i die? how?
his answer was that while there were autobiographical elements - the needles, caring nurses, many hrs in the infusion room etc. - it wasn't an autobiography.
and yes, i understand that the story's dynamic would be less clear if a wife had been present.