A connoisseur of last looks

I know, it's early to start mourning New Mexico. I've kept my equanimity pretty well, I think. I've got so many people here: church, school, patients, twenty years' worth. It was something of a shock when they started scheduling people's cleaning for a date after I leave, but even then I didn't lose it. I haven't been telling every patient that I'm leaving, either, because that would just make the next six months one massive goodbye. We have so many sweet patients.

But today I was talking to a patient, a courteous British gentleman. We've talked quite a bit about one thing and another, and he always has something fascinating to say on any subject. We discovered some mutual friends and chatted for a while.

At the end, he asked my wedding date, and wrote it carefully on the top of his printout. "I'll drop by before then," he said. That's when I teared up.