Marriage.

This masterpiece below just surfaced on Facebook. I
pasted this here because I want to read this again in
the future and be moved to tears all the same.

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 struggle to live as normal a life as possible.
Her reasons 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 noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I
drove to office.... 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 salesgirl 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
thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son---
I'm a loving husband....

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.
Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you. If you
do, you just might save a marriage. Many of life's failures
are people who did not realize how close they were to
success when they gave up.

A CHRIST-CENTERED MARRIAGE IS A MARRIAGE THAT IS SURE TO LAST A LIFETIME.

So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. Matthew 19:6.

By Stephanie Hamilton Brown