I understood the habit, even if our losses were different.

“Last month I bought a lamp Roger would have hated,” I told her.

“I stared at it in the store for ten minutes, waiting to hear his opinion in my head.”

“What did you do?”

“I bought it.”

“Good,” she said, lifting her coffee.

“We should both buy more lamps.”

We began having lunch on Wednesdays when our schedules allowed.