Visitation.

I cried. At first, he just looked dead. Then I noticed they'd left his laugh lines in place, and he looked like himself. And then I cried some more. Bob came in, and we talked until I was laughing as much as I was crying...after a while, Bob said he had to go to a dental appointment.

"The two worst things...both on the same day," he said. "How about I stay here and you go?"

I laughed. "You know, he was the kind of guy who would have given--a lot--to be able to sit up at this moment and say, 'Bob, you stay here, and I'll go.'"

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You know, it's more comfortable to sit in a room with a dead friend than it is to sit in a room full of live strangers.