The Road

The mother says this near the beginning of the story befire she takes her own life. She was pleading with her husband to hold onto his humanity and emotion..... he needed to continue to survive for their son...... to love him and to stay with him.

Quote in context:

Maybe you'll be good at this. I doubt it, but who knows. The one thing I can tell you is that you won't survive for yourself. I know because I would have never have come this far. A person who had no one would be well advised to cobble together some passable ghost. Breathe it into being and coax it along with words of love. Offer it each phantom crumb and shield it from harm with your body. As for me my only hope is for eternal nothingness and I hope it with all my heart.”