« I’m never leaving her behind, » he told me that night.
« You’re nine, Ed. »
« Doesn’t matter. »
Through high school, he walked her home. When he proposed after graduation, I cried harder than she did.
He had grown distant from our parents.
I flipped to the engagement dinner photo, and my chest tightened. Mom was smiling in the picture, but I remembered what she had said to me in the kitchen that night.
« He’s throwing his future away, Alice. A blind wife? Who’s going to take care of her when he can’t? »
« Mom, please. »
« I’m just being practical. »
Dad stayed quiet, as always.
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