She put one of the smaller pumpkins on Clark’s long lap. “Now, nothing surreal,” she told him. “Carve just a regular face, these are for kids.”
This line from “Yours” by Mary Robison is more then just about a jack-o-lantern carving. It is an indirect dying request to a loved one. Alison, the narrator, request is for her husband to stay strong, to be happy, and in general, to keep living as if she were still alive. We as the readers can come to this conclusion by seeing how hard Alison tries to keep up her charade of having a normal life. She does everything in her power to keep their social life normal.