After my parents’ forty-eighth wedding anniversary, I thought more about long-term commitment and devotion. I thought more about the unspoken vows we make to the people we love, and how those promises hover in the air around us, touching everything we say and do. I thought more about the time I have left and the relationships I have or am yet to have. I thought more about “the scraps.” Then something else struck me: When I turn forty-eight, I will have forty-eight years in a loving relationship with my parents. When my sisters each turn forty-eight, I will have forty-eight years with them.
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