“Thank you for being here today.” “I promised her I would be,” I said.

And he looked at me with something quiet and deep in his eyes and said, “You always keep the promises you make.” Andrew had spent two years using that same trait — my refusal to break a promise, even a promise to a stranger on an operating table — as proof that I was a neglectful partner.

Zachary saw the identical quality and called it my greatest strength.

Same loyalty.