Wedded Wednesday: In Sickness and In Health

I recently read an article in O' Oprah Magazine about marriages and how illness can tear them apart. I guess found this article interesting since I have been taking care of my hubby for the last two weeks. When we take our marriage vows, do we really think about what the statement of " in sickness and in health" really means? In the article, it stated that most men will leave a marriage when an illness of the wife takes place, when women will stick it out for the long haul if their husband gets ill. The article continued to state that couples that go through an illness together, become stronger in their marriage and as individuals.

With just the minor surgery that my husband had, things have been different over the past few weeks. Part of it is that I have been the main caregiver and taking care of most task around the house that we usually share. I could not image what it is like when a major illness takes place in a relationship when there is not only the stressor of the illness, but the household and finances.

I think that most people feel that when we say "in sickness and in health", that we are thinking about sitting by our spouses bedside later in life, but never really thinking about the possibility of something happening early on in our marriages. We never know what we would do in extreme situations, but I would hope that my relationship is strong enough to withstand something major like an illness.