"I'm glad you were able to have some resolution with him," Karen answers, sincerely. Part of her suspects that they should actually talk about their families one day. The circumstances are different, but there's absolutely an understanding there. Not just with the loss of her mother, but her and her father will never have a relationship more than 'distant' and 'barely cordial' again.

She leaves her hand entwined with his as he goes back to the topic of his service tattoo, smiling a little. "Sounds like you were deployed with a good unit. It's always seemed to me like that kind of camaraderie and trust is really important."