“Not everyone makes it fifty-two years, and if you do, it doesn't matter that you once stood in front of all those people and said that you would. The important part is that you had someone to stick by you all that time. Even when everything sucked.”

“I guess so,” she says, unable to keep the sigh out of her voice. “But not everyone keeps that promise.” She looks over toward the woman, still fastasleep. “Not everyone makes it fifty-two years, and if you do, it doesn’t matter that you once stood in front of all those people and said that youwould. The important part is that you had someone to stick by you all that time. Even when everything sucked.”

“The important part is that you had someone to stick by you all that time. Even when everything sucked.”

“I'm not sure I even believe in marriage," Hadley says and he looks surprised."Aren't you on your way to a wedding?""Yeah," she says with a nod. "But that's what I mean."He looks at her blankly."It shouldn't be this big fuss, where you drag everyone halfway across the world to witness your love. If you want to share your life together, fine. But it's between two people, and that should be enough. Why the big show? Why rub it in everyone's faces?"Oliver runs a hand along his jaw, obviously not quite sure what to think. "It sounds like its weddings you don't believe in," he says finally. "Not marriage.""I'm not such a big fan of either at the moment.""I don't know," he says. "I think they're kind of nice.""They're not," she insists. "They're all for show. You shouldn't need to prove anything if you really mean it. It should be a whole lot simpler than that. It should mean something.""I think it does," Oliver says quietly. "It's a promise.""I guess so," she says, unable to keep the sigh out of her voice. "But not everyone keeps that promise." she looks over toward the woman, still fast asleep. "Not everyone makes it fifty-two years, and if you do, it doesn't matter that you once stood in front of all those people and said that you would. The important part is that you had someone to stick by you all that time. Even when everything sucked.”

“And in August it will be fifty-two years together.”“Wow,” Oliver says. “That’s amazing.”“I wouldn’t call it amazing,” the woman says, blinking. “It’s easy when you find the right person.”

“When you're on the other side of it," she says, "fifty-two years can seem like about fifty-two minutes.”

“You know what they say," Dad said. "If you love something set it free.""What if he doesn't come back?""Something do, somethings don't," he said, reaching to tweak her nose. "I'll always come back to you anyway.""You don't light up," Hadley said, but Dad only smiled."I do when I'm with you.”