The poem below was submitted by one of our readers, Elizabeth, as a loving tribute to the relationship shared between her mother, who is battling stage IV breast cancer, and her father.
They have been married for 40 years,
But he loves her the same as he did on their wedding day.
He wakes up every morning,
Already knows what the day will be like,
He looks over at her and sees the girl he fell in love with,
You would never know just by looking at her the amount of pain she lives with.
The day starts the same as always,
Make breakfast and give her the first dose of her many daily pills,
All the while,
He loves her just as he did on their wedding day.
You never hear him complain or get mad or scream,
He sees what this disease is doing to his best friend, his soul mate,
But he just pushes on,
Because he loves her just as he did on their wedding day.
Her strength and stability has weakened slowly throughout the years,
She relies on him to help her as she leans on him to walk,
Making sure she doesn't fall.
He showers her and helps her dress and tucks her in for her naps,
She asks him if she is a burden and apologizes over and over,
His reply short and sweet,
You are never a burden,
Because he loves her just as he did on their wedding day.
He cooks and cleans,
Takes her to all her doctors appointments,
Fills her prescriptions,
And never complains about how many appointments or the costs,
Cause her health has no cost,
And surely one day,
One of these medicines will work.
He still has hope,
Cause he just loves her as much as he did on their wedding day.
And at the end of the day when they lay in bed,
She is already fast asleep,
He puts his arm around her,
He can't think of living a day without her,
He hopes and prays for a better day tomorrow.
It's been 40 years of ups and downs,
Love and laughter,
Children and grandchildren,
Sickness and health.
He wouldn't trade it for anything in the world,
Because he loves her just as much as he did on their wedding day.