And Now For Something Completely Different

I am not usually at a loss for words. Anyone who’s met me knows I typically have something to say. I’m also usually the one asking questions – insatiably curious about how couples met each other, what people do for a living, how they fell in love, why they stay together, what gets them jazzed about life. But Ron’s inquiry stumped me. “What do you love to write? What’s your niche?” The four of us were chatting over dinner in the unimaginatively named eatery The Restaurant aboard the Viking expedition ship Polaris, somewhere off the coast of Antarctica. It was a bucket-list trip of a lifetime over Christmas and New Year’s. Phil and I had fallen in with a small group of extraordinary travelers during a pre-cruise extension in Iguazu Falls, Argentina. Christine and I clicked right away, sharing intimacies and laughter like sisters or long-time besties with surprising ease. She and Ron had been together for 22 years, and interactions between them crackled with a lively tension...