God has His own ways to keep the people together who love each other for as long as He wants. We come across so many stories of people who loved each other dearly but fate had planned something else for them. I came across such a story that tore my heart but made me realize how valuable relations are in our life and how much we neglect them. We will not reveal the real names due to privacy issues:
For months their marriage had been dying. They both knew about it yet they remained silent until that one night. He came home and on the table where she served him dinner, he held her hand and said the words.
I have to say something to you
She knew this was coming. She knew the day had finally arrived yet she did not say a word and remained quiet. He saw the tears welling in her eyes but he had to do this. For himself. For Jane. Jane was so young and so beautiful and she could give him the exciting life he always wanted. He had lost his body and soul to her. He started talking about getting a divorce calmly and told her how he could not live with her anymore. She listened and then just asked why he wanted a divorce. He could not tell her. She grew angry and left the dining table saying that he was a not a man!
He did not make an attempt to talk to her that night, neither did she. She kept crying softly into the pillow and he waited for the gloomy night to be over. He knew that all she wanted was an answer to her questions but he could not give them to her. He could not tell her how much he loved Jane. He could not tell her how he did not love her anymore. So he just laid there, listening to her sobs and trying to sleep.
The next day, he drafted a divorce document in which he had named the house and the car to his wife and she also owned 30% of his company. In other words, he was leaving her everything which could keep her financially stable for a very long time. When she saw the document, rage took over and she tore it into pieces. That was the moment she realized that her 10 year long marriage had finally come to an end. He felt bad for her because she literally gave all of her energy to this marriage and their son in these 10 years and he could not give that back to her anymore because of Jane. She could not control it anymore and started crying loudly in front of him. Her cry actually made him feel liberated and he felt that he did the right thing to release this woman from the vows of wedding because what he was doing to her was worse.
Their divorce had yet not been finalized. The next day when he arrived home, he saw her writing something on a paper. He did not pay much attention and she did not greet him either. He went straight to their room and fell asleep immediately because he was tired from a well-spent day with Jane. When he woke up a few moments later, she was still writing. He fell asleep without paying attention.
The next morning, she declared her conditions of the divorce. The first one stated that she didn’t want any kind of material support from her husband at all. The second stated that he wouldn’t file a divorce for at least a month. This was because their son had his examinations during the month and she did not want anything to make him distracted from his studies and normal life. He agreed to this immediately because even he did not want to disrupt his son’s life. The third condition was a vague one. He did not understand it nor did he think it made logic. It said that he would recall the way he carried her from the threshold to their bedroom on their wedding day and would carry her from their room to the front door every morning for a month. It was extremely bizarre as it made no sense to him. He accepted anyway because he wanted their last days to be tolerable.
When he told Jane about this request she made fun of it and plainly said,
No matter what kind of tricks she uses, she is going to get a divorce.
It was clear that whoever heard about this request thought that she was going crazy. The worse thing was that he had not touched her since the day he had told her about getting a divorce. So it was hard for him to even look into her eyes, let alone touch her and carry her into his arms. That morning when he picked her up and carried her into his arms, they both felt awkward. Their son followed them through the house and clapped with excitement. It was a new thing for him that his daddy was carrying his mommy in his arms. Every time he shouted with glee, it brought pain to him. He knew this was all pretentious and no real emotions were behind this act. The ten meter walk from his bedroom to the sitting room and out in the porch seemed too long for him. When he was about to put her down she said asked him quietly to not say anything about the divorce to their son as it will crush him. He went to the office while she waited for her bus which took her to work.
On the second day, both of them were much more relaxed than the day before. She leaned on his chest and draped her hands behind his neck. He could smell her particular fragrance and realized that he had not even looked at that woman closely for such a long time. When he looked at her that day, he saw the lines around her eyes that had aged her. She had strands of grey hair and for a moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off her because he could see his reflection as a monster in her eyes. What had he done to this beautiful woman he once loved more than his life?
On the fourth day when she was in his arms, he felt that they were physically bonding. As the days passed by, the bonding grew and her thoughts kept returning to his mind even when he was at work. He could not tell this to Jane because it would clearly make her mad but he felt some kind of contentment. He felt as if his life was returning back to him. The other thing that he noticed was how easily he could carry her with each passing day. Maybe the everyday exercise made him stronger to lift her without much effort.
He loved the fact that she got all dressed up every morning to look fresh for him. One day, she was choosing what to wear and then realized that most of her dresses had turned loose. She was growing thin with each passing day and that made him realize that it was not him who had become stronger, it was her. She had gone so weak due to the pain and hurt he caused her. Without thinking he touched her head and suddenly their son took him out of the reverie.
Dad, it’s time to carry mom.
It had become an essential part of their son’s daily life. His wife hugged their son so tightly at that point that he could not look at them anymore. He was afraid he would turn weak and would not be able to stand by his decision. That was the last day of the month and it was the last time he had to carry her around the house. They fit so perfectly, their bodies together like a symphony. She held him so effortlessly and he held her tightly yet not crushing her. Memories from their wedding day surrounded him and he was taken back to their happy times. Her lighter weight made him anxious and he expressed this to her. Their son had already gone to school and he told her how he felt that they lacked intimacy in their life. That day when he went to the office, he told Jane that he was not getting a divorce. Jane thought that he was playing some kind of joke on her but when he explained the whole situation she grew worried. At first she thought he was ill and was talking gibberish. But then he said,
Sorry Jane, I cannot divorce my wife. My marriage might have become boring because we stopped giving importance to the little details in life but I still love her. 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 was so shocked to hear all this that she slapped him square in the face and banged the door when she left. She might have thought how sick he was but it was the truth. He could not live without his wife. She was his responsibility and he never realized that he had to play a part equally to keep their marriage alive. He wanted to see her immediately so he got into his car and made way for home. He stopped at a floral shop and bought a bouquet for her. The salesgirl asked him what to write on the card. He smiled and wrote,
I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.
When he arrived home with the flowers and card, he went straight to his room. He found her lying on the bed, sleeping. That was bizarre because she never slept at that time. When he moved closer to touch her forehead to see if it was hot, it was cold. She was not breathing.
His wife had died that day. She had been fighting cancer for months and he never knew because he was so busy making a new life with Jane. He now understood why she wanted him to carry her every day. She wanted their son to think how much his father loved his mother. How much he cared for her when she was ill. Even when in so much pain, she cared about her husband.
These small things actually create huge differences. Never forget that these tiny things keep a relationship intact for a lifetime. The material things are nothing in comparison to real feelings and emotions.
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