"Are you married?" Paul asked, as we finished writing. "No, I'm not." "How can that be, a beautiful girl like you?" "Ah well, a good man is hard to find, I guess." "Yes, I imagine you're right," he said, looking at me closely. "You know, you're making me remember a lot of things." "That's good, don't you think?" "I suppose so," Paul said. In the summer of 1996, Ruth Ray, a gerontologist in her forties, became friends with an 82-year-old man suffering from Parkinson's. The two remained close until the end of his life, sharing stories and memories while building a powerful relationship that would outlive their limited time together. Part memoir, part biography, Endnotes illustrates how the "meaning" of peoples' lives is constructed in their interactions with others, from childhood through old age. With grace and wit, Ruth E. Ray situates her friend's past experiences and present relationships within the theories and literature of gerontological research, providing a deeper understanding of autonomy at the end of life.Ray also sheds light on the negotiation of sexuality and intimacy in old age, communication across disabilities and age groups, the disabling nature of nursing homes, and the experience of death and dying. She organizes her chapters around specific conversations between her and her friend and grounds their growing intimacy in the terms of gerontological theory. Ray's ultimate argument is that "quality of care" requires an understanding of the relationships that have given a person's life meaning as well as a willingness to accept and share deeply in the emotional process of physical and mental decline.