UNDYING LOVE

I keep returning to the photo and the words posted by a dear friend.

In the photo a woman stands in a long stretching hallway, reaching out to embrace another woman of similar age. The two faces are graced with welcoming smiles, all while a man looks on from behind.

It’s a simple photo.

That is if you don’t understand the depth of love laced within its every pixel.

Deep into the late stages of Alzheimer’s, the man in the photo no longer recognizes his wife of 55 years. She has come to visit him and is the one offering an embrace as they stand in the hallway of the memory care facility where he now lives.

The fellow resident she reaches out to hug is the woman her husband now believes to be his wife. Both in similar stages of the disease, the two are inseparable, always holding hands, always taking care of each other. 

In the words that accompany the photo, my friend goes on to explain how her mom, despite the pain and loss of watching her husband’s mind surrender to early-onset Alzheimer’s, continues to reach out with love and affection towards the soul mate that no longer recognizes her.

She visits.

She embraces.

She tells the woman her husband believes to be his wife that she’s beautiful and that she loves her. 

Again and again she surrenders what she thought to be her future and her expectations for her golden years.

Again and again she leaves her visits with a thankful heart that her precious man is content and will never be alone.

Again and again she refuses to turn off her love.

It’s stories like these that will never let me surrender hope for humanity, stories like these that remind me of the potential we each hold to live life from the deepest of our identity. 

Few are asked to embody radical love to such an extent, but when they are, I’ve seen many rise to the challenge.

Superwoman still exists - she exists in the constant personal sacrifice for the sake of one’s child. She exists in the bending of one’s life to meet the needs of a friend. And she exists in the hallway of a memory care facility refusing to surrender a pledge of undying love.

To all the superwomen out there…thank you for showing us the way.