he remembered marie as she had been , her hair floating in the wind , the skin at the nape of her neck like satin ; when they 'd whitewater-rafted down the snake river , her strong , sun-browned arms digging the paddle into the churning water , the big western sky reflected in her eyes ; when he 'd asked her to marry him , on the stolid granite grounds of georgetown university , she in a black spaghetti-strap dress beneath a canadian shearling coat , holding hands , laughing on the way to a faculty christmas party ; when they 'd said their vows , the sun sliding behind the jagged snowcapped peaks of the canadian rockies , their newly ringed hands linked , their lips pressed together , their hearts beating as one .