"I do."

57 years ago, Mom spoke those words while holding Dad's hands.

I thought of their commitment to one another last week as I was seated across from her at breakfast. It was their 57th wedding anniversary. And her first without him. I expected our time together to be a bit downtrodden, quiet, sad. After all, how do you celebrate the thing you built your life around when the person you built it with is no longer there? But as we sipped a mimosa (Hey, it was their anniversary and I wasn't going to have Mom celebrate by herself!), it was surprising that Mom wasn't sad, wasn't morose, wasn't bitter. She was at peace. Let me explain