I promised to write about love during the month of February. Most of those planned articles will be late; but today I will be sharing a story about real love. You see, my father passed away one week ago. And I want to tell you briefly about the love my mother and father shared.

As early as I remember they were quick to give one another a hug or kiss. I remember giggling as I watched my mother greet my father as he came home from work each evening. They were not afraid to show their love for one another.

Years later as those hugs and kisses grew more discrete, I used to wonder what had happened. It was only as I grew into an adult I realized while in their youth they were quick to show romantic love; while later, as they matured, so did the way they expressed their love. Circumstances also had matured them.

I titled this article “In Sickness and in Health” because that is very much of their story. I don’t remember seeing my mother cry very often, but I do remember the first time. I was sitting in the backseat of our car with my father patiently waiting in the front while my mother was at a doctor’s appointment. Though she tried to put on a brave front, when she returned to the car she started crying. My mother was going to need a hysterectomy.

I was too young to understand the implication of that. My parents had always wanted more children, not wanting me to grow up an only child. I had longed for brothers and sisters like most my cousins had. But that was not what was going to be. – I wish now I had understood. I would not have been so insistent about my wishes. But I was only a child. I did not understand. Reflecting, I can say I never lacked for anything. Most of all love.

I seem to recall my mother going through more than one surgery, so I am not certain of the time frame of most of this. But I do know my father loved her and was always there for her as best he could be, and still be able to support our needs financially.

It was over two decades later my father had to have his first heart bypass surgery. Back then the life expectancy following this surgery was only five to ten years. He survived almost thirty more years.

Those years weren’t always easy. Especially when twelve years ago my father required a second bypass surgery. I am not going to go into every detail of the years that followed, but I will say he battled heart attacks, cancer, asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, infections and depression. Mom saw him through it all with very little help from me. She was determined to handle everything she could, saying she was saving me for when things got really bad.

I reflect back and know that it was my mother’s diligence that kept my father with us as long as he was. Left to his own devices he would probably have eaten a fat-ridden, salty diet, not to mention the sugar he probably would have consumed. While he was never deprived, Mom made certain he ate healthy, took his medication on time, and followed all his doctors’ orders.

Of course, I cannot discount the power of God, because the one thing it seemed my father might not survive was the depression. Mom endured great fear and worry during those times following his second heart bypass. However, thanks to my uncle, her brother, who made a call to a local church, a pastor came out and spent time talking with Dad.

It was through this kind man my father accepted the Lord, and I believe that more than anything that kept him strong during the trying years to come. If there was anyone Dad loved more than the rest of us, it was the Lord. But he had enough love to go around.

Mom and Dad were good to others throughout their lives, and this reflected in the number of people who came to his funeral. Family and friends filled the funeral home to standing room only. There was a lot of love, and a lot of tears. But the tears were not all of sadness, because there were many fond memories in that room. And a whole lot of love.

So, as I started with the vows about sickness and health, I am ending with another vow, “Until Death do us Part”. We know where Dad is now with his first love, just waiting for the love of his earthly life and the rest of us to join him someday. Until that time we will remember all the good things he taught us, but most of all the love.