Saturday, August 08, 2009

Love in Real Life

Last night's 20/20 episode focused on medical mysteries, and all were interesting stories. The one that touched me most, though, and brought tears to my eyes, was about a woman who had been struck with a debilitating disease which locked up her muscles just days before her wedding. That was three years ago, and she and her fiance are now finally beginning to get help since her recent diagnosis. Read more and watch the story here.

I didn't cry because this was such a sad story. I didn't cry because the woman fell ill right before her wedding. My tears came because of the love and steadfastness of the man who is still by her side, because that's what I have had for myself from the beginning. These were tears of knowing -- not that I have known suffering to the extent that she has, but I know what it's like to be very ill just days before my own wedding and the fear that comes with not knowing what is wrong.

Just eleven days before mine and Casey's wedding, I had a huge flare. Of course, at the time we didn't call it a 'flare' because we didn't know yet that I had Behcet's Disease. I'd had symptoms for over a year, and my doctor had been working on a diagnosis but he still had not been able to pinpoint anything for certain. What he needed was what happened: an all-out crazy flare that affected me head to toe. We're talking conjunctivitis, lesions (on my face), ulcers coating the inside of my mouth and throat, ulcers in my stomach, a rash covering my legs, and a fever of 105.2 (complete with hallucinations).

That was all well and good for the diagnosis, but I had just over a week until my wedding! Talk about throwing us for a loop. And it's not like Casey and I had been together very long. He had known me for less than two years, had been dating me for less than one year, and we'd been engaged for nearly four months. If you saw lesions on your fiance's face, isn't there a possibility you would want to turn and run?

But that wasn't Casey. He loved me despite all the scariness of the unknown, despite the fact that he didn't even know what might be wrong with me. He loved me..."for better or worse, in sickness and in health" weren't even words he had declared in the presence of God and our families, yet he was living it right there in that hospital room.

We've talked in the past few years about how easy that time seems compared to 2006, and I once asked Casey if he still would have stayed had he known how much harder it would get. His answer was a smile and an immediate "of course."

The best part? I already knew what his answer would be. He lives it every day.

6 comments:

Derrick Doyle said...

I'm sure Casey has already told you this, but I remember him telling us (Eric, Richard, and me) that it was actually while you were sick in the hospital (around the time you first started dating?) that he first knew how much he cared about you.

He's always loved you no matter what, from the very beginning, because that's who he is...he lives out better than almost anybody I know the Scripture that says that we love because He first loved us.

tracey said...

Derrick ~ Yes, he's shared that with me. It was right before we started dating that I spent a week in the hospital. All of the big events in our life seem to involve a hospital stay...something we can laugh at most of the time!

Thanks for your sweet words. I sent them on to Casey because I know he will appreciate them as much as I do.

Lori said...

Wow, that made me cry! I don't remember you having shared that before. Isn't it wonderful when God blesses us with our white knights? Thanks for telling that story. So, did you get married on the original date or have to postpone it?

tracey said...

Lori ~ Thank you...as always, you are so sweet and encouraging! Yes, it is wonderful, but of course I don't always feel worthy of such blessings. And yes, we did get married on the day we had planned. My dad was coming up with all of these back-up plans, but I insisted that I was walking down that aisle (when I entered the hospital I couldn't even walk!) on June 8. Not only did we get married on the day, we also spent our honeymoon at Disney World as planned! It didn't hurt that I was taking massive amounts of prednisone... :)

Sarah said...

I love this post....

tracey said...

Thanks Sarah, you're sweet!

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