Most people use the word loosely.

They promise things the way they make small talk, as a social lubricant, with no real intention of being held to it, and children learn early that adult promises are mostly weather, pleasant and passing and not to be built upon.

What made Gabriel different, from the very beginning, was that he did not use the word loosely.

When Gabriel promised my sister something, he meant it with his whole self, and he kept it, every time, without exception, across decades, until keeping his promises to Gemma had cost him things most people would never dream of paying.

The prom promise on the gravel was small, a boy’s kindness to a girl who needed one.