Shared story: I’m just as committed now as I was 50 years ago

Today’s shared story comes from Martha Brammer
who lives with her husband, Howard, at Christian Villages at Mason (Ohio).
Recently Howard moved from their garden apartment into Guardian Care
at the Village central facility.

It was a hot August evening in 1967 when Howard handed me a small, velvet box with a diamond ring perched inside. It was beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off as it slid back and forth across my finger.

I had a ring with a garnet stone when I was in high school, but it had no meaning, no commitment attached to it. This one was different. It held a commitment of two people spending the rest of their lives together for better or worse, for richer or poorer. I wondered what the future held for us. Later that night I collected my thoughts and put them in a poem, the poem I’m sharing below.

More than 50 years have passed. I had no children then; now I am a great grandmother. I was marrying a strong, healthy young man back then. Now I am his caregiver. Parkinson’s disease has taken its toll over the years, and our dark hair has turned gray. But I am just as committed to him now as I was the night he put the ring on my finger.

This is the poem I wrote that night so long ago.

The Promise

Today I chose to walk with thee,
And stand close by thy side.
To help anchor the ship when it’s tossed at sea
And to stay during the even tide.

I chose to walk with thee, my love
Down through the paths of time,
Through the valleys and over the hills,
Holding my hand in thine.

And when tomorrow has long since passed,
And Old Age knocks at our door,
I’ll love thee just as I love thee now,
Except I’ll love thee more.