[Lois pauses once again in her snow packing with a thoughtful furrow to her brow. Now how does she explain this without giving away too much. It dawns on her that she's never talked about the last few months of her life to someone who wasn't there in some way.]

You could say that. It was ... mmm, well.

[Hm.]

Have you ever been afraid of being left behind? Or just not being good enough for someone else?