I've been married to my wife for 25 years today. She is a real treasure.

I've been married to my wife for 25 years today. This may seem irrelevant, but it really isn't. <br><br>When we married, I had been working in IT for 5 years, and she was a professor at a university, department head, and tenured. She made 3 times what I made. I always joked that I was a Trophy Husband.<br><br>We married when she was 36. She always wanted kids, and given her age, we had to move quickly. We tried. We really tried. After 6 months, she went to the doctor, and he gave us some really bad news. She was fixed. One of her fallopian tubes was blocked, and the block cleared in only one place, which was at a place that didn't allow fertilization, and the other tube had scar tissue down the whole length, which prevented any egg from passing. Given her age, there was no chance of a successful egg harvest, and even if it had been successful, there was no chance that any fertilized egg would survive implantation. Yeah, IVF would be a waste of money. We were done.<br><br>She cried, and I told her we didn't need kids. We would just have each other, forever. I would always be there for her, and she for me. We could travel. We could buy nice things. We could live our lives as we saw fit. She smiled. I was a really good husband. We went out to a nice restaurant, and had a really nice dinner, with great wine. <br><br>Happiness. Just happiness.<br><br>Fast forward a few years. She gets a really nice grant. She is going to travel to Germany for 6 weeks. She really doesn't want to go alone, and she wants me to go with her. I tell her I have a job, and can't just leave for 6 weeks. She asks me why not. I tell her I have a contract. She asks me if they would fire me if I left for 6 weeks. I tell her probably not. I ask her what I would do in Germany. She tells me that she will be in a small town that no one ever heard of, and I would be with her. I tell her that I don't speak German. She tells me she does, and she would help me. She really wants me to go, and I haven't taken a vacation in forever. She wants me to take a break. She wants me to be happy. I get off work for 6 weeks, and we go to Germany. When we get back, she tells me she has always loved Germany, and given that she is a professor, she can take a sabbatical, and she wants to go for at least a year. She wants me to go with her. I ask how I would live if I don't have a job. She tells me she makes plenty, and we can live off what she makes. She really wants me to go. She always wanted to live in Germany. She wants to share this with me. I always loved her, and really wanted to make her happy, so I quit my job, and we went. We stayed for 5 years. When we got back, she got another grant, and wanted me to go with her. We went to Japan. She always wanted to live in Japan. She is American, and Japanese. I was a little apprehensive, but she promised she would be with me, and would help me navigate Japan, and she did. She spoke fluent Japanese. I scared her at one time, when she asked me how much something cost, and I answered in Japanese. I scared her so bad she almost cried. I told her I had been studying Japanese. We stayed in Japan for 5 years. She then got another Grant. She wanted to go to Italy, and she wanted me to go with her. I had been studying Italian for a year before we went. She loved Italy. She loved Tuscany. We stayed in Tuscany for 3 years, and then she got sick. We decided to come home, and she could take it easy. <br><br>We came home. She was sick, and getting sick, and I helped her. I really loved her, and I had always been there for her, and I still was. She got weaker and weaker, and eventually I could not take care of her, so she went into a nursing home. She was bed-ridden. She couldn't walk. I would visit her everyday, and spend all day with her. I would talk to her. I would read to her. I would tell her I loved her. She always told me she loved me. She didn't know who I was, but she loved me. I would talk to her, and hold her hand, and she would tell me she loved me. <br><br>A few months ago, she didn't recognize anyone. She thought she was still in Tuscany. She thought she was a little girl. She thought her mother and father were with her. They had been dead for 20 years. She would tell them she loved them. She told me she loved me. She really loved me. <br><br>A couple weeks ago, she got very sick. The doctor called, and told me to come see her. She was going to die. I rushed to the nursing home, and she was so weak she could barely talk. I told her I loved her, and she looked at me, and said she loved me. She died, looking into my eyes, and telling me she loved me. <br><br>I never divorced her. <br><br>I will never divorce her. <br><br>I will always love her. <br><br>She was a treasure.<br><br>&#x200B;