Summary

Actor Patrick Swayze is diagnosed with cancer just a few months after Will's mom. She calls Will after an interview in which the actor expresses great hope, though he is fairly certain that the cancer will kill him. She arrives in Vero Beach, Florida, and is very ill, but begins feeling better the next day. They set out to watch the manatees and Will finds himself hoping they come so that his mother will feel even better. She greets many people, and Will only wants to talk to her about books. She recommends talking to random people because that is the only way you can tell if someone is worth talking to.

They read Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking", in which the author talks about the grief she experienced when she lost her parents. Will resolves to tell...