The precocious child sits nodding its head. Oh how lovely one woman comments. It’s simply divine says another. The child continues nodding its head for some time.

Years later the precocious child is leading a rather dull, comfortable life. It eats regularly and is married. Once a week it meets for lunch with a group of people it knew when it was still a precocious child. These lunches, they all agree, are what they look forward to most each week.

One year much later on the once-precocious child’s spouse dies. This is marked by a series of events commemorating its existence, as well as a good number of tears. After some time, however, the spouse is more or less forgotten.

Several years pass and its life has become much less complicated. It doesn’t work any longer and, aside from a few nagging physical ailments, suffers little. Then it too passes, and though there is less commemoration and fewer tears, some people are saddened by its passing.