20 points for the best answer
the author characterizes the adult lois as a woman

a. mourning the untimely death of her husband, rob.

b. still angry at her friend lucy for leaving her so suddenly.

c. haunted by the inexplicable death of her childhood friend.

d. with an unquenchable guilt for having failed her best friend.

the present continuous is a verb tense which is mainly used to indicates that an action is in progress at the moment of speaking.  

it is formed using: person + verb to be (am/is/are) +verb + - ing form  

example: i am studying at this moment .

in addition, the present continuous is also used in order to express things that will or will not happen in the near future.

example: i am having dinner with some friends tonight.

the speaker sometimes   uses it   to express that an action is repeated and it causes irritation on the part of the speaker

example: my sister is constantly complaining about everything.

“asleep in his bed” is personified.

i believe it is the first option, having taken lessons