Member-only story
‘Til Death Do Us Part
Honoring our vows, we improve with age
I have been married for 58 years. I am 81; my wife is 79. We have had our ups and downs, as all married couples have. But our longevity proves we have learned how to sail through the squalls and the tempests of life.
One thing I must note is that the D-word has never come up. We both have taken our vows seriously. “Until death do us part” means just that. No matter what, in sickness and in health, in challenging times and in good times, we stick together.
We try not to hurt or anger the other person. If we do, we apologize (preferably as soon as possible), and we do our best to mend the tear in the relationship fabric. That relationship looks like a patchwork quilt, but it holds together.
Now in our golden years, we can look back (and ahead, too) and appreciate how important our wedding vows were.
We promised to love and care for one another in sickness and in health. Like all couples our age, we have had our share of sickness and know what it is like to nurse a loved one back to health.
We weathered the COVID pandemic (thankfully without contracting the virus). We masked up, put on rubber gloves, and did our shopping. We took our doctor friend’s advice and washed our hands frequently and thoroughly, as if we had…
