He sits forward in his chair, but his movement and attention are focused downward rather than forward, and his elbows press against his knees as he clasps his now-empty hands.

"I think you're correct," he answers softly. "I think the best way to approach this is to acknowledge, first, that we are an amalgam of those people and ourselves, and we're formed primarily by the choices made in this life and not the last one. Can we move forward with that understanding?"