At 50, she had kept rescheduling her colonoscopy
because she was afraid. He said it would be a gift
to him since he wanted her around as long as possible,
and so she had agreed. Afterwards, they were told,
when the anesthesia began to kick in she had exclaimed,
"Oh... here I go. I'll see you later," and that on waking
she had been happy and laughing, wishing everyone
a Merry Christmas even though it was August. In contrast,
when he'd had his, he had awoken combative, saying,
"you sons of bitches, I'll get you." In the following years,
they had laughed at this at parties, suggesting it revealed
something fundamental about people. At the end, again
in a hospital, she had given him another gift, squeezing
his hand, and saying, "Oh... here I go. I'll see you later."