21.   The Hirdts, whose younger brother Tom also works for the bureau, say family conversation can become a bit limited.

22.   Their phone conversations have become more personal and include chitchat about their families and jokes about the weather.

23.   When the conversation becomes one-sided, with Rehm alone on the page, she natters on much longer than she would ever allow a guest to do.

24.   Without the signals most parents can read in eyes and posture, conversation became the glue that kept the family together.