In a series of essays called "The Distance," Thomas Lake is telling the stories of Americans in the pandemic. She'd read Ailyn the first six Harry Potter books, but Scott had to read the seventh. "Some days are diamonds, some days are stone," Scott sang, reaching the chorus of a country-rock standard written by Deena Kaye Rose and covered in 1981 by John Denver . Scott was on a long run of stone days when he met Heather in 2004. He was freshly divorced, 48 years old, balding and overweight, working seven days a week in a hospital deli in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Source: CNN February 19, 2021 19:29 UTC