In Sickness and In Health

My mom cleans houses for a living. She has three clients and uses up four weekdays to clean their houses. She helps out at the church by translating the worship sermons into Mandarin and preparing communion, among other smaller duties. She helps take care of my grandmother and my dad whenever they have medical appointments. When she's at home, she is always cleaning the house to rid it of as many germs and dust as possible for all of our health's sake. My mom is no slacker and works tirelessly day and night. She refuses our help and when she does accept, she does so reluctantly.

This morning my mom told me that she was going to quit cleaning two of the three houses, which surprises me because she relies on those jobs for income. Since my parents are receiving no other income except from my dad's pension and old age security, her quitting will mean handling their finances more frugally than they already are. She's quitting because she wants to spend more time with my daddy. Dad's illness had worsened and my mom resolves to be a better wife. I'm not sure how because in my eyes she's done everything for him the way a wife should.

As D and I prepare to write our own vows to each other, I am using the traditional repeat-after-me vows as reference. When I read "in sickness and in health," I instantly think of my parents. D has some health issues that although are not serious right now, I can foresee them getting worse in the future. I, myself, am susceptible to diabetes, cancer, and heart problems because of my family's history.

But, I look to my parents and friends' parents, and I realize that there is hope. There's no doubt in my mind that I've chosen the right man to marry and I hope I will have enough stamina and integrity to stick it out with him through all situations. My vows to D will be living vows: promises I can show, not just tell. I hope I will be as good a wife to D as my mom is to my dad.