With this ring, I thee wed

We said, with bright eyes and full hearts the words generations of couples have exchanged, full of hope and anticipation of the future we would share, the life we would build -- "I take thee to be my spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part" -- never envisioning how hard to overcome "for worse," or "for poorer," or "in sickness" might be. Nor how wonderful "to have and to hold" "to love" and "to cherish" would feel after so many years of figuring out how to best hold gently, love deeply, and cherish genuinely. Nor how quickly death would cease to be a distant whisper to become a beckoning shadow in our room.