I was right. It was a sobber. I had to stop reading on the train when my chin started wobbling and I started sniffling and my eyes blurred up. I had to take several deep breaths and stop reading and think of other things.

I don't think it helped that I was listening to Richard Hawley's Coles Corner (which I will point out is an album Alan gave me months ago and that I hadn't listened to even once before yesterday) as I read. When I hit the climax of the book, this was the song playing:

Don't look for me in fields of clover; I won't be there I won't get older. I must wait here holed up in my time. Don't search for me in fields of green; I'm not there, I won't be seen. I'm wading through the waters of my time Don't look for me in lands of gold; I won't be there, I won't get old. I'll hover like a frozen bird in time. Don't reach for me, the stars are cold; My race is run, my stories told. I'm wading through the waters of my time Don't search for me in lands of gold; I won't be there, I can't get old. Don't hope for me, the stars have died; I've slipped into the past. 'Cause I'm wading through the waters of my time.

Read the book. Trust me, this album plays like a soundtrack.