 Why does Edith want Hank to go out on the town?
There was the usual welcoming crowd for a celebrity, and the usual speeches by the usual politicians who met him at the airport which had once been twenty miles outside of Croton, but which the growing city had since engulfed and placed well within its boundaries. There he sat between the mayor and a nervous young coed chosen as homecoming queen, and looked out at the police and fire department bands, the National Guard, the boy scouts and girl scouts, the Elks and Masons. The head of the American Legion and the chief of police, who had escorted him on this trip from the square, didn't ask to go in with him. They held onto each other as if seeking mutual support, the thirty-three-year old woman and ten-year-old boy. So he put him down and told himself that it would all change, that everything would loosen up just as his commanding officer, General Carlisle, had said it would early this morning before he left Washington. Edith was leading him into the living room, her hand lying still in his, a cool, dead bird lying still in his. Carlisle had said his position was analogous to Columbus', to Vasco De Gama's, to Preshoff's when the Russian returned from the Moon—but more so. Edith said, "He made top forum the six-month period before vacation, and he made top forum the six-month period you went away, Hank."
 Edith is making an effort to return to normalcy, even though she is scared. She loves Hank.
 Edith promised Hank's mother that she would make an effort to return to normalcy, as death had not parted them after all.  Edith is making an effort to return to normalcy, even though she is scared. She loves Hank.  Edith promised General Carlisle that she would make an effort to return to normalcy. She was aware of the new return-to-life policy before Hank left on the mission.  Edith wants to get Hank out of the house so Ralphie can have his friends over. Ralphie's friends don't want to visit while Hank is at the house.