“I Sarah, take you, Steve, to be my husband, and I promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful wife, I will live together with you in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, until death do we part.” I was 21, Steve was 23 when we entered into this marriage covenant. On May 9,2022 our covenant ended when Steve’s heart stopped beating.
I took a magic marker on our wedding trip. Steve had cancer and was taking radiation treatment. Every time we went swimming together I had to redraw the lines where he needed radiation. On our first anniversary he had competed his chemotherapy. I worked during the day and took care of him at night. The stress and lack of sleep caused me to have a nervous breakdown. He took care of me until I recovered. Our next anniversary was spent working at Yellowstone National Park. “I will together with you in sickness and in health.”
Steve was with me for the birth of our four children. We shared the miracle of life, and I watched him as he tenderly held his children. We both wept as he dug the grave for Belle Marie here on the farm. I remember his words of comfort as we placed her little coffin in the ground. “Time doesn’t heal all wounds, but God will.” He comforted me during the loss of two more children. “I will live together with you in joy and in sorrow.”
If the covenant I made so many years ago had only been with Steve, I don’t know if it would have survived. I failed him often. Our humanity and selfishness caused us to hurt each other in many ways. However this covenant was made with God as well. “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand”(Psa 37:23-24)
I promised to love, comfort, honor and keep Steve as my wedding husband until death parted us. Death has parted us and for the first time in 48 years I’ll be alone on June 8, our anniversary. Even though Steve won’t be here to celebrate with me I will still celebrate. I will celebrate the life we built together in covenant with God and each other.
