"MY FATHER"

"MY FATHER"
(author unknown)

While standing in my bedroom doing my makeup, I overheard my parents in the bathroom across the hall. My father was groaning in severe pain, and thankfully, my mother was there to support him. At that time, I was in my twenties, caught up in my own world—juggling relationships with two men like a bouncing ball. But something about that moment between my parents hit me deeply.

My father groaned, and my mother gently reassured him, “It’s okay, Chris. I’m here.”

That was the beginning of my father’s painful side effects from prostate cancer, something that would only worsen with time. As I leaned toward the mirror to apply mascara, I heard more sounds of distress from my father. I froze, feeling trapped in their moment with nowhere to go. I heard a metallic clank in the bathroom—a mess had been made beyond my father’s control. My mother, without hesitation, would clean it up. “I’m so sorry,” my dad said.

“It’s okay, Chris. I’m here,” my mother replied once again.

After finishing my makeup, I sat on my bed with the door slightly ajar. Though I was worried about my father’s health, tears fell onto my jeans as I came to a profound realization—THIS is marriage.

Marriage isn’t found in lavish weddings, romantic dates, or cosy nights watching Netflix. It’s found in the darkest moments, when one partner supports the other through situations too difficult and vulnerable to share with anyone else.

As children, we grow up watching movies and reading stories about happy endings, perfect beginnings, and light-hearted moments in between. But real love—true romance—reveals itself when two people lean on each other, are completely vulnerable, and depend on each other through life’s hardest times.

Sitting on my bed, I made a decision. I no longer wanted to bounce from one relationship to another. I wanted my future to reflect what I had just witnessed: my parents' marriage—imperfect yet deeply beautiful. My own marriage, like theirs, has had its ups and downs, but the love I saw that day reminds me that marriage is forged in life’s toughest, most intimate spaces—even in the bathroom.

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