What is the thing that is referred to at the end of the story "Sophistication" by Sherwood Anderson? What is that thing?I am confused by this. Is...

The last sentence of the story "Sophistication"
reads,

"Man or
boy, woman or girl, they had for a moment taken hold of the thing that makes the mature
life of men and women in the modern world
possible."

The "thing" spoken
about in this passage is connection with another human being. The central theme in
Winesburg, Ohio, from which the story is taken, is the inability of
human beings to make true connections with other people. Because of this, they become
what Anderson calls "grotesques," individuals stunted in emotional growth and doomed to
live in isolation. In "Sophistication," George Willard is about to leave Winesburg, but
his leaving is bittersweet;

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"To his mind his new sense of maturity set him
apart...he wanted someone to understand the feeling that had taken possession of
him...with all his heart he wants to come close to some other human, touch someone with
his hands, be touched by the hand of another..., he wants, most of all,
understanding."

George turns
to Helen in hope that, because she is a woman, she will be able to give him that
understanding. It is true that he is attracted to her, but it is not attraction of a
physical nature that he seeks. George thinks,

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"He wanted to love and to be loved by her, but he
did not want at the moment to be confused by her
womanhood."

George wants
something deeper, a communion of souls that transcends the physical, and fortunately,
Helen wants the same thing -

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"In the mind of each was the same thought. 'I
have come to this lonely place and here is this other,' was the substance of the thing
felt."

George and Helen kiss
for awhile, but it is not in physical joining that they will find fulfillment now. They
play like children, to relieve their embarrassment, and then they have a period where
Helen takes George's arm and walks beside him "in dignified
silence;"

"For
some reason they could not have explained they had both got from their silent evening
together the thing
needed."

George and Helen
have connected, in complete honesty of heart and purity of soul. They have achieved
something that is almost impossible for individuals to do, hindered as they are by their
own obsessions. Maturity cannot be truly realized without someone to share it with, even
if just for a moment. It is not romance, but a spiritual connection with another human
being that makes it possible for George to enter adulthood with authentic
maturity.