...and nostalgia swept through Jimmy like a sudden hunger. - Margaret Atwood

I’ve been prepared for almost anything; except absence, except silence.

All Creatures know that some must die
That all the rest may take and eat;
Sooner or later, all transform
Their blood to wine, their flesh to meat.

But Man alone seeks Vengefulness,
And writes his abstract Laws on stone;
For this false Justice he has made,
He tortures limb and crushes bone.

Is this the image of a god?
My tooth for yours, your eye for mine?
Oh, if Revenge did move the stars
Instead of Love, they would not shine.

More often than not, she acted as if she wanted to protect him, from the image of herself — herself in the past. She liked to keep only the bright side of herself turned towards him. She liked to shine.