Fireworks Every Night

by Beth Raymer

exactly why I wanted to elope to Vegas. But Alex wouldn’t have it. He said that marriage was a time to “build our community”—if we had problems, in the future, we could turn to those who, in bearing witness, had sanctified our vows, and they would support us.

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety; it’s connection with people.

She spoke about how devastated she was to be leaving the next generation with a natural world that was worse than the one she had inherited. “It’s now best to view oceans as graveyards and vacations as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities,” she said. “Not because we won’t be able to return to the places we visit, but when we do, the landscape will be unrecognizable.”