Table for Two

by Amor Towles

We all have our flaws. Some large and some small. Some that come and go, others that persist. I, for one, don’t remember birthdays. I’m not always welcoming to perfectly nice people whom I’m meeting for the first time. When inconvenienced, even slightly, I can’t resist the temptation to let the person who’s inconvenienced me know that I’ve been inconvenienced. And I tend to allow my priorities to overshadow the priorities of others, even of those I love. Perhaps, especially of those I love. As I stood there in the customer service line thinking of all that had just transpired, what I found myself hoping, what I found myself almost praying for, was that despite all my flaws, when the time came, as it surely would, my wife would be willing to fight for me as hard as Jennifer had fought for her husband.