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WILD RIDE
By Constance Murray
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According to dictionary.com a vow is a noun meaning a solemn promise, pledge, or personal commitment; an earnest declaration; a solemn promise made to a deity committing oneself to an act, service, or condition.
On May 10, 1986, we stood before our families and God and we recited our vows. I took a vow. I made a solemn promise and committed myself to the conditions in our vows. I meant those words, but I honestly had no idea just how those conditions would play out and how my commitment to my husband would be tested.
I Constance take you Robert to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, forsaking all others, until death do us part.
We knew there would be ‘worse’ and ‘poorer’. We never really planned on sickness. And I guess it just never occurred to me that death would eventually ‘do us part’. But it did.
We met in college, fell in love, and the week before I graduated with my first BA we were married. We bought a house, raised three boys, added one more, and made our way through the years. October 16, 2016, was the last day of our old life.
Our New Life
Early Monday morning, October 17, 2016, we made our way to the outpatient surgical center for Robb’s colonoscopy. Sure, he had been having a little trouble now and then, but the doctor believed he probably had some hemorrhoids or maybe some diverticulosis. The scope was completed, and we were waiting in the little curtained cubicle hoping the doc would come in soon so we could get the discharge paperwork and go grab something to eat. Finally, the doctor came in and said they had found something. What kind of something? A mass. What do you think it is? Cancer.
….gasp…..suddenly the air left the room….
I felt the kick to the stomach and had to steady myself so as not to fall backwards. I instinctively stepped closer to Robb and took his hand. I don’t know who was squeezing harder, Robb or me, but I thought our hands would break. The doctor explained what he found and sent us for blood work and scans. Yes, he sent us. Sure, Robb was the one with cancer, but let’s face it, we were going to fight this together.
And so the story began.
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