In sickness and in health

Yeah, I think I know where your mind will go when you read this
line…white dress wedding, church and a happily-ever-after couple riding
into the sun…

Well, I will go on and admit I’m a bit of a romantic and I still have
this very vow saved for safe keeping along with our wedding invitation
and our wedding photo album somewhere.

But it’s not there that my mind goes where I hear this. Strangely
enough, it’s not the Carrickfergus castle or the hilarious(now) mishaps
of our civil wedding day that I think of when this line comes to mind.
It’s my small girl I think of..

You see, Emma has been a sickly child since she was born..reflux,
then a looooong line of infections/coughs/trips to the doctors…We’re not
sure what’s causing it but it’s worse in the winter and when the
weather is humid. We eliminated asthma, we looked into various allergy
trigger agents, we put her on a gluten-free and wheat-free diet. We have
been trying recently all these natural cures and products. And yet, she
still gets them blooming infections with a sickening regularity, every
two to three weeks on average.

And it drains me. To see my baby sick. To have my routine disrupted.
To know she’s not gonna enjoy another week of her life because she will
be spluttering her lungs out or grumpy-ing around because she doesn’t
know herself what’s wrong but she needs to let me know somehow that
she’s not well..

It got to the point where it doesn’t matter what it is anymore: a
cough, a throat or an ear infection. Because for me it’s a disruption
from life’s normal routine but most importantly, an opportunity to
mumble to myself regarding this little person I was entrusted with: “in
sickness and in health”.
I will love and protect her, be there for her, fare it all alongside her, for her sake.

In sickness and in health…