The Greenland shark is the world’s longest living vertebrate. It was not a fact that Cheryl, in bed next to Charlie, knew nor had even considered. She could knit and read at the same time, propped comfortably on two pillows. He read about lifespans, while she imperfectly followed a mystery novel. Had he not said that the Greenland shark could live anywhere from 250 to 500 years, she might have followed the plot better.

“Are you into lifespans again, Charlie?” She realized that he had recently seen his internist and awaited the laboratory results.

The shortest lifespan of any creature is that of the mayfly – one day. It’s born. It mates. And that’s it. It doesn’t even eat, so the mayfly has no mouthparts.
Charlie was into lifespans on the long side this Saturday night, with the children asleep in their separate rooms.

“Did you know that the Greenland shark isn’t sexually active until it’s 150.”
“What?”
“Years old. That’s how many years it takes them to get around to it.”
“They’re no mayflies,” observed Cheryl.

She put down the knitting needles. Briefly, she turned away from the book.
“What are you thinking?”
“Oh, just about some of the guys I used to know.”
“Before me?” Charlie didn’t ask about her past often.
“I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“What about some of them?”
Cheryl smiled at him. “It’s too bad more weren’t like the Greenland shark.”
“You mean, that they wouldn’t get around to it for 150 years?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“And how about me?”
“You, Charlie? 150 years? That’s another way to put it, too.”