Marriage

[1961casey]

Cavernio,

You suggested that adultery would not always be the end of a marriage and the couples often reconcile afterwards. Obviously it is possible and I wish the best to those couples who try and succeed. However, one has to realize that the relationship has been damaged and it will never be the same again, regardless of the passage of time. Possible? Yes! but difficult.

You also asked about the case of mental illness. Let me tell you a real story. I hope that you may get to know a lady like Judy. She was not a 'classy' lady. If anything she could best be described as 'frumpy'. She was not someone to whom you go for advice, or ask to take on a prestigious task. She was sweet, however, and always had a smile and a friendly hello. She doted on her grandchildren, taking them with her whenever she could. Her husband, as a roofer, was somewhat rough around the edges as the saying goes but he managed to support his family well enough.
One day, he fell off a roof and fell the equivalent of three stories to the ground, landing on his head and was severely brain injured. To say his wife was in shock would be to state the obvious. Some how she had to take over everything that her husband used to do around the house, visit him in the hospital, and arrange for his on-going care. Later she had to sell the house, find a extended care facility to care for her husband and one that would allow her to be there with him as well. For the next three years she had to take care of her husband as a she would care for a baby. Perhaps I should rephrase that: for the next three years she decided to take care of her husband. There was no real reason to prevent her from turning the care of her husband over to some facility but she didn't. She could have made any number of reasonable choices but she chose the hardest one. She loved her husband and she was going to make sure he got the best possible care, even if it meant the she would have to give it.
As I said this lasted for only three years. He developed pneumonia and, complicated by his brain injury, it killed him.

One definition of a hero is: one who willingly risks or gives up their life or possessions in order to protect someone else's life or possessions. If you asked Judy why she did it, she would answer 'because he is my husband.' Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all could have a hero in our lives?