When All Is Said

The time is 10:10 pm, the final toast is to Sadie, and the drink is Midleton Whiskey. Maurice says he’s saved the best for last. His doctor told him to cut back on alcohol as it isn’t the answer to loss. Maurice wonders what his doctor knows about loss. Sadie, though not much of a drinker, always liked this particular whiskey on special occasions. He feels he has to go to her, though he worries about how she’ll receive him.

He met Sadie when she worked in a bank. He still likes to go in person for his banking, even though Kevin has successfully got him into internet banking. He remembers being smitten with Sadie immediately. He was kind to her when she got flustered as she was new to her job. They found it easy to talk to each other. He loved her mischievous humor. He reminisces about their early courtship: taking her to a dance on the handlebars of his bike, and their first kiss on the lips. Three months down the line, he was terrified about meeting her family and accidentally offended her with a joke, as he didn’t yet know about