At 30,000 Feet, I Watched My Wife Crawl Across the Floor With Both Legs in Casts While My Mother Hid Her Crutches—Then I Noticed What Was Recording Behind Them

Sometimes six of us.

Sometimes nobody.

Sometimes Mom attends.

Sometimes Clara says:

Not this year.

Nobody dies.

That would have shocked old Marcus.

I thought family rituals were fragile.