Roper, says she has a history of depression but felt that the "strange, even absurd, surges of emotion and tearfulness" she began to experience after giving birth were something different. This included one particularly odd bout of sadness she experienced when former president Gerald Ford died. "I remarked to Alastair, wasn't it sad that Ford hadn't been more appreciated in his lifetime and that the only thing our generation really associated with him was Chevy Chase's imitation of him on 'Saturday Night Live'? Because Ford was obviously a good man, with good intentions, even if he had pardoned Nixon. Alastair remarked that maybe I should go upstairs and get some sleep."
