Till Death Do Us Part

“Till death do us part”, we state in our marriage vows full of hope and expectation. The reality for many couples is they have lost that hope. The joy, the strength, the reliance upon one another and the hope of a life-time commitment seems like a fading mist in the memory of their wedding day. A couple of weeks ago there was a news story of a couple that swept through our nation that reminded me of my commitment “Till death do us part”.

KCCI News in Iowa reported the story of an elderly couple that had been hospitalized after a car accident, News Story.  They were given a room together with beds side-by-side and sadly both were very weak. Gordon Yeager (94) and his wife Norma (90), had been married 72 years and as their bodies weakened he held Norma’s hand till his breathing stopped. As the nurses attended to him the heart monitor still registered a heartbeat. It was Norma’s pulse through his hand. Still holding hands, exactly one hour later Norma passed from this life. “Till death do us part”, Gordon and Norma give us a tender, tearful, but hopeful example of what those words really mean.

If we were to interview Gordon and Norma and listen as they shared what their 72 years together were like, I think we would hear about times of joy and celebration, times of pain and struggle, times when they were close, times when they weren’t, but through it all they never let go. They never let go. Only after both had taken their last breath did their grip loosen. "They just loved being together," Dennis Yeager [their son] said. "He always said, 'I can't go until she does because I gotta stay here for her.' And she would say the same thing." Our Heavenly Father saw their love and called them home together.

When I heard this tender story of life-long love, I reached for Charlene’s hand. While we were sitting on the couch holding hands I wasn’t paying attention to the kids or what was on the TV, but engrossed in my thoughts of how petty and self-centered I can be in our marriage. I think it is safe to say that when we allow disappointments and struggles in marriage to fester over time in self-centeredness that’s when our grip begins to loosen. Thanks to Gordon and Norma I was reminded of my vows and to never, never, never let go…“till death do us part”.

“My Lover is mine and I am his…when I found the one my heart loves, I held him and would not let him go.” Song of Solomon 2:16, 3:4

“How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh how beautiful!” Song of Solomon 4:1