Marvin gave him a list in large print.

He phoned every volunteer the evening before their shift and never once forgot a name.

“You sound like a foreman,” I told him after hearing one call.

“Abigail was the foreman in our marriage,” he replied.

“I was merely in charge of the weather.”

The small joke was followed by a serious confession.

He told me he had felt most frightened when Rebecca’s family stopped asking him for anything.

He had interpreted their efforts to protect his dignity as a sign they didn’t need him.