Astonishment

The old man finds himself at the end of his life and lands upon astonishment.  So this is what it's like.  He figures out what all the fuss has been about, where the puzzle pieces go, how the mistakes he made were the right ones all along. Listen to me, he says, will you just listen to me for a second?  He has a conversation with himself and feels good about it, then he closes his eyes and thinks about what he'll do tomorrow.