“Until death do us part” is a phrase which perhaps few people can understand, but this couple definitely understands it perfectly.
Helen is a woman who is faithful to her wedding vowels to love and cherish her husband in sickness and in health, for every day of their lives.
Her husband is Edward, a 75 year old ex Marine who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and Helen’s daily struggle is coming up with the perfect strategy to stay by his side and give a good quality of life to her loved one.
Usually, she writes him signs on all of the doors and windows in case he wakes up in the middle of the night. The signs say what is behind the doors: bathroom, Alice’s room (your daughter), kitchen, etc. Helen always remembers to close off those doors which could put her husband in danger.
Edward knew that with every passing day, Helen was suffering. Although she would hide it in front of him, he knew it, because in spite of his disease, he didn’t forget the expression on Helen’s face when she was miserable.
One day, Helen went to the supermarket to buy groceries for dinner. Upon returning, she saw that Edward was taking a walk in the garden with their daughter, Alice. Helen decided to tidy up the house a little, making the most of the fact that Edward was preoccupied.
When she began cleaning up the things in the bathroom, she found an envelope which caught her attention. She opened it and saw there was a piece of paper inside. She couldn’t help crying, because Edward had written her a letter, one which left her speechless.
These were her husbands words:
To my beloved wife, Helen:
The one who spends hours writing signs so I don’t get lost in my own house, making the most of the fact that now you’re asleep and you look as beautiful as the day I met you. I want to tell you in this letter, in case tomorrow I can no longer remember your face and I forget how much I love you, that I am terrified to know that could happen at any moment, that some day my mind will no longer return from that coming and going of thoughts and that I’ll no longer be aware of what is going on around me, including maybe how little I have left to live. But before I forget everything, I want you to know how much I love you, that from the first moment I saw you at the county fair I was in love with you, that I truly admire the strength with which you fight by my side and how you’ve been able to love me so often and with the same strength as the first time, that you have never given up and that my love, you don’t know how much I admire. I have loved the craziness you’ve done by my side, like the time we put our shoes on backwards, I remember our feet hurt so much but we still laughed so hard. In those moments in which I have forgotten simple things you always looked for a way to make me smile. Thank you!
Thank you for completing my sentences in the conversations we have, in which I often get lost, but above all thank you for always reminding me that we made a beautiful family in which I have many grandchildren, and although I occasionally forget some of their names, you always whisper their names in my ear with such sweetness.
Thank you for being my strength, for putting up with me, for not giving up or letting me give up, thank you for making me calm, for understanding me and thereby taking care of me so completely. Just in case tomorrow I can no longer remember and I forget everything we are, remember my love that I love you so much, even tomorrow when I forget your name or my own. Helen, thank you! In case tomorrow I can no longer tell you, always remember that I’ll love you until my dying breath and beyond.
Always yours, Edward.
Helen, upon reading the letter, couldn’t contain her tears and ran to hug her beloved husband. This letter shows that when love is great, it’s wonderful.
