My grandparents used to bicker at each other like only an old married couple can.  Growing up, I was convinced that they hated each other, and were stuck together out of habit and because nobody else would have them (possibly that was true).  The old man was a taciturn grouch, and my grandmother wouldn't have been too far out of place with a headscarf and rolling pin in hand, shaking it at him to get up off his lazy ass. 

When he died, the house got quiet, and my grandmother started hearing his voice. I don't think she liked living alone, and her health deteriorated quickly.  Hearing things was very likely the beginnings of the Alzheimier's that eventually took her, but I think she missed her husband.  It's a different story, and a different message, but yours reminded me of this.