A powerful, deeply affecting portrait of a long marriage and a clear-eyed account of the impact of grief, writing as consolation, and the enduring significance of poetry from one of Canada's most celebrated voices. We ran off together in 1978, abandoning our marriages and leaving wreckage in our wake. I was a 'promising writer,' Patrick has just won the Governor General's Award. I was so happy for him, and I've continued to be every time an honour comes his way, but I knew if I didn't grow, if I remained merely someone who showed potential, we wouldn't last. I swore I wouldn't play the dutiful wife, cheerleader, and muse, of the great male writer, and he didn't want a partner like that. We wanted to flourish together and thrive in words and books and gardens.