I learned my late wife’s crossword routine

Dear Delyara, My wife did the crossword every evening. I mocked her for asking obscure clues while I watched television. After she died, the newspaper kept arriving because I forgot to cancel it. One evening, I attempted the crossword. I was terrible. I could almost hear her saying, “Five letters, obvious.” I started doing one every day. Six months later, I still need help, but I understand some of her habits now: fill plurals first, pencil lightly, leave impossible clues and return later. Yesterday, I finished an entire puzzle without looking anything up. I wrote her name in the corner before realizing what I was doing. Hobbies can become small bridges into the ordinary minds of people we loved. I knew my wife for thirty-six years. Apparently, there were still ways she thought that I had never bothered to learn until she was gone.