As she began her story, I wondered why I was so much better at faking interest in Aunt Rose than I was at faking interest in other people. Then it hit me: maybe I wasn’t faking it at all. Maybe I was genuinely interested in another person. Yes, that was it! I actually cared about this kind old woman…and it felt good! I was a good person after all! I was so caught up in the excitement of self-discovery that I missed most of what Rose actually said. I would have asked her to repeat it, but she died pretty soon after that. Still, though, it was worth it to have that moment with her, whatever it was about. Something about an oxygen tank or something.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on society. Fool me four times, shame on me again because I really should have seen that coming. Fool me five times, though, and it’s back on you because, seriously, why are you such an asshole?

Everybody thinks it’s rude to ask a man point-blank how he lost that leg. Nobody ever thinks twice about asking how a dog lost it’s leg. When they see a man, a child, and a dog all together, though, and all three of them are missing the one leg, they just go with it.