Playing Nurse for Your Spouse

Today was a little too exciting for my taste. This morning while I was at my parent's place, my father went into the attic to look for my mom's wedding dress because we were thinking of shortening it for me to wear to my upcoming rehearsal dinner. Instead of finding the dress, my father fell through the floor of the attic into the room below it. Luckily, he didn't fall to the ground, only injured his elbow, and broke two ribs. The gigantic hole in the ceiling indicates that he could have sustained far greater injuries.

What struck me about the incident -- besides the actual fall -- was how much my mom knows my father. He would not allow me to call the ambulance, and he was refusing to go to the emergency room because he's a stubborn tough guy. But a few looks from my mom, who seemed to be communicating with him telepathically, and he gave in. She seemed to say all the right things to keep him calm, and her mere presence soothed him despite the pain and the difficulty he was having breathing.

The takeaway from this story is that marriage, when done right, can be a salvation. Sometimes, you have to literally take care of your spouse whether he or she likes it or not. Now, my mom is playing nurse while my father rests, something he does not like to do. In fact, he already tried going into the garden to pick tomatoes (just moments after returning from the hospital).

When your spouse gets hurt or injured, you might be called upon to do the same. Just remember this is one of the promises you made at your wedding -- in sickness and in health. If you're not the nurturing, sympathetic type, you have to try to bring out those characteristics in yourself to tend to your spouse's needs. My parents have been married 30 years; this give and take didn't happen overnight. Creating a successful marriage requires time, patience, and dedication to constantly improving your relationship.