Langston Hughes

“ Many nights they had spent walking, or talking, together. But something not very important had come between them. Then she had married a man she thought she loved. And the boy went away, bitter about women. ”

“ A great many people went by them through the park. People they didn’t know. It was late afternoon. Nearly sunset and cold.
“And you husband?” he asked.
“We have three children. I’m working in the busar’s office at Columbia.”
“You’re looking very...” (he wanted to say old) ... “well,” he said.
But she understood. Under the trees in Washington Square, desperately she found herself reaching back into the past. She had been older than he then in Ohio. Now, she was not young any longer at all. Not young! Not young! But Bill was still young. ”