When he got home that night as his wife served dinner, he held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. He didn’t know how to open his mouth. But he had to let her know what he was thinking. He want a divorce. He raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by his words, instead she asked him softly, why?

He avoided her question. This made her angry. That night, they didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. He knew she wanted to find out what had happened to their marriage. But he could hardly give her a satisfactory answer;infact she had lost his heart to Rebika. He didn’t love her anymore. He just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, he drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own their house, car, and 50% stake of his company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with him had become a stranger. He felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but he could not take back what he had said, he loved Rebika so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of him, which was what expected to see. In fact she was aware of his relationship with Rebika,but her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed him for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, he came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. He didn’t have dinner but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because he was tired after an eventful day with Rebika. When he woke up after an hour, she was still there at the table writing. He just did not care so he turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from him, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month they both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: their son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with their broken marriage. This was agreeable to him. But she had something more, she asked him to recall how he had carried her into the bridal room on their wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration he carry her out of their bedroom to the front door in the morning. He thought she was going crazy. Just to make their last days together bearable he accepted her odd request. He told Rebika about his wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

They hadn’t had any body contact since their divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when he carried her out on the first day, they both appeared clumsy. Their son clapped behind them, Papa is holding Mama in his arms. Those words brought him a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, he walked over ten meters with her in his arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. He nodded, feeling somewhat upset. He put her down outside the door.

She went to wait for the bus to work. He drove alone to the office. On the second day, both of them acted much more easily. She leaned on his chest. He could smell the fragrance of her blouse. He realized that he hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. He realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! “Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute he wondered what he had done to her.”

On the fourth day, when he lifted her up, he felt a sense of intimacy returning. “This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me”. On the fifth and sixth day, he realized that their sense of intimacy was growing again. He didn’t tell Rebika about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made him stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. He suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why he could carry her so easily. Suddenly it hit him… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously he reached out and touched her head. Their son came in at the moment and said, Papa, it’s time to carry mama out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. His wife gestured to their son to come closer and hugged him tightly. The husband turned his face away because he was afraid he might change his mind at this last minute. He then held her in his arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded his neck softly and naturally. He held her body tightly; “it is just like our wedding day.” But her much lighter weight made him sad.

On the last day, when he held her in his arms he could hardly move a step.Their son had gone to school. He held her tightly and said, “I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy”.

He drove to Rebika…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. He was afraid any delay would make him change his mind…he walked upstairs. Rebika opened the door and he said to her “Sorry, Rebika, I do not want the divorce anymore.” She looked at him, astonished, and then touched his forehead. “Do you have a fever?”She said. He moved her hand off his head. “Sorry, Rebika” he said, “I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.” Rebika seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave him a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. He walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, he ordered a bouquet of flowers for his wife. The salesgirl asked him what to write on the card. He smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart. That evening he arrived home early, with flowers in his hands, a smile on his face, He ran up stairs, only to find his wife in the bed -dead.

His wife had been fighting CANCER for months and he was so busy with Rebika to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and hence had not objected to the relationship with Rebika.She just wanted to save him from the negative reaction from the son, in case they push through with the divorce.

There was a small note in her hand-”At least, in the eyes of our son—- you are a loving husband….“

The small details of our lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the house, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy.

Do have a real happy marriage! If you share it with your friends, you might save a marriage. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.