Till death (or dementia) us do part?

     My wife and I saw a preview for a movie called “The Vow.” It’s about a young couple involved in a car accident, and the wife’s injury causes her to lose any memory of being married. It’s an adaptation of a true story.

     Knowing many other real-life situations involving memory loss and the strain that puts on relationships, this story from Religion News Service caught my eye. The first part of the article follows, along with a link for the entire story.

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     Philip Weeks fondly remembers the days when his wife of 56 years, June, was a nurse and an artist whose paintings were compared to Rembrandt’s.

     Her paintings still hang in their home in Lynchburg, Va., but almost everything else has changed for the couple after she was diagnosed with possible Alzheimer’s and then an abrupt form of dementia. (The Weeks’ wedding photo is shown at right.)

     In one moment, the retired Charismatic Episcopal bishop said, she would lean over to kiss him. “An hour later, she looked at me and said, ‘Who are you?’” he recalled.

     When the person you married goes through a dramatic change, what’s a spouse to do? As Valentine’s Day approaches, clergy, ethicists and brain injury experts agree: There are no easy answers.

     When a couple is faced with the sudden or gradual change in the person who now may no longer be able to give flowers or go out to the movies, it often means a new definition of love.

     “I made a vow,” said an emotional Weeks. “For better or for worse, in sickness and health. She has stood by me in mission work, in the pastorate. Why can’t I stand by her now?”

Click here for the complete story.