Until Death do us Apart
When I got home that night as my wife
served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve
got something to tell you. She sat down and
ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her
eyes. Suddenly I didn’t know how to open
my mouth. But I had to let her know what I
was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the
topic calmly.
She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words,
instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided
her question. This made her angry. She
threw away the chopsticks and shouted at
me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t
talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew
she wanted to find out what had happened
to our marriage. But I could hardly give her
a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart
to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just
pitied her!
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a
divorce agreement which stated that she
could own our house, our car, and 30%
stake of my company. She glanced at it and
then tore it into pieces. The woman who
had spent ten years of her life with me had
become a stranger. I felt sorry for her
wasted time, resources and energy but I
could not take back what I had said for I
loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly
in front of me, which was what I had
expected to see. To me her cry was actually
a kind of release. The idea of divorce which
had obsessed me for several weeks seemed
to be firmer and clearer now.
The next day, I came back home very late
and found her writing something at the
table. I didn’t have supper but went straight
to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I
was tired after an eventful day with Jane.
When I woke up, she was still there at the
table writing. I just did not care so I turned
over and was asleep again.
In the morning she presented her divorce
conditions. She didn’t want anything from
me, but needed a month’s notice before the
divorce. She requested that in that one
month, we both try to live as normal a life as
possible. Her reason for this conditions
were simple. Our son had his exams in a
month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt
him with our broken marriage.
This was agreeable to me. But she had
something more, she asked me to recall
how I had carried her into out bridal room
on our wedding day. She requested that
every day for the month’s duration I carry
her out of our bedroom to the front door
ever morning. I thought she was going
crazy. Just to make our last days together
bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Jane about my wife’s divorce
conditions. She laughed loudly and thought
it was absurd. No matter what tricks she
applies, she has to face the divorce, she said
scornfully.
My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact
since my divorce intention was explicitly
expressed. So when I carried her out on the
first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son
clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy
in his arms. His words brought me a sense
of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting
room, then to the door, I walked over ten
meters with her in my arms. She closed her
eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about
the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat
upset. I put her down outside the door. She
went to wait for the bus to work. I drove
alone to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much
more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could
smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized
that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully
for a long time. I realized she was not young
any more. There were fine wrinkles on her
face, her hair was graying! Our marriage
had taken its toll on her. For a minute I
wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt
a sense of intimacy returning. This was the
woman who had given ten years of her life
to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized
that our sense of intimacy was growing
again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became
easier to carry her as the month slipped by.
Perhaps the everyday workout made me
stronger.
She was choosing what to wear one
morning. She tried on quite a few dresses
but could not find a suitable one. Then she
sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I
suddenly realized that she had grown so
thin, that was the reason why I could carry
her more easily. Suddenly it hit me. She had
buried so much pain and bitterness in her
heart. Subconsciously I reached out and
touched her head.
Our son came in at the moment and said,
Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him,
seeing his father carrying his mother out
had become an essential part of his life. My
wife gestured to our son to come closer and
hugged him tightly. I turned my face away
because I was afraid I might change my
mind at this last-minute. I then held her in
my arms, walking from the bedroom,
through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her
hand surrounded my neck softly and
naturally. I held her body tightly, it was just
like our wedding day.
But her much lighter weight made me sad.
On the last day, when I held her in my arms I
could hardly move a step. Our son had gone
to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t DorrisWedding pageant celebrity garments for girls
noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove
to office and jumped out of the car swiftly
without locking the door. I was afraid any
delay would make me change my mind. I
walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I
said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the
divorce anymore.
She looked at me, astonished, and then
touched my forehead. Do you have a fever?
She said. I moved her hand off my head.
Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My
marriage life was boring probably because
she and I didn’t value the details of our lives,
not because we didn’t love each other
anymore. Now I realize that since I carried
her into my home on our wedding day I am
supposed to hold her until death do us
apart.
Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave
me a loud slap and then slammed the door
and burst into tears. I walked downstairs
and drove away. At the floral shop on the
way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my
wife. The sales girl asked me what to write
on the card. I smiled and wrote, “I’ll carry
you out every morning until death do us
apart”.
That evening I arrived home, flowers in my
hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs,
only to find my wife in the bed – dead.
My wife had been fighting cancer for
months and I was so busy with Jane to even
notice. She knew that she would die soon
and she wanted to save me from the
whatever negative reaction from our son, in
case we push through with the divorce. At
least, in the eyes of our son— I’m a loving
husband.
Moral: The small details of your lives are
what really matter in a relationship. It is not
the mansion, the car, property, the money in
the bank. These create an environment
conducive for happiness but cannot give
happiness in themselves. So find time to be
your spouse’s friend and do those little
things for each other that build intimacy.
And have a real happy marriage