A Loyal Husband’s Promise

I visited a nursing home in Delaware, a small state in the U.S., one day and found a patient lying unconscious on a ventilator, completely detached from the world. My host sister informed me that the man sitting beside her was her husband—an incredibly devoted man. His wife used to often tell him, "If I die, you should remarry," but he had promised her that no matter what, he would never take another wife.

"But what happened to her?" I couldn’t help but ask, feeling pity for the woman as I looked at her.

"She was diabetic and also had high blood pressure. When she had a stroke, it left her paralyzed from the waist down and mentally impaired."

The doctors had given up on her long ago and wanted her taken off the ventilator (which artificially maintains breathing and heart function). But her husband insisted on keeping her alive. He clung to hope, believing that one day, she might regain her mental clarity, her heart might start beating on its own, and she might walk again. The doctors here had declared her case hopeless, but he refused to accept it.

Their two grown sons lived in the same city with their own wives and children, leading comfortable lives—but this man’s home had shattered. He spent hours sitting by her side, reading newspapers, talking to her even though she was unconscious. He did so in the hope that perhaps, hearing his voice, she might wake up.

"Don’t their sons visit their mother? Don’t they care for her?" I asked.

My host sister replied, "This family is Pakistani. The sons do care, but not as much as their father does. They’re busy running their stores and barely have time."

"They should take turns keeping their mother at their homes," I said helplessly.

"They could, but their wives also work. Proper full-time care would be needed, so they think the nursing home is necessary—if an emergency arises, she’ll get immediate medical attention."

The man had already divided his property between his sons, spending his entire share on his wife’s care. He had hired a private nurse for the day and another for the night. Medical treatment here is already expensive, yet he poured money into her care like water, hoping she might recover. Deep down, he probably knew the odds were against her, but as long as she breathed, he held onto hope. He clung to faith, constantly praying for her recovery.

As I left the nursing home, my mind kept circling back to the thought: So many men, despite having good wives, choose to remarry. Husbands often prove disloyal—women weep, sharing tales of cruelty, of husbands who remarry despite having them. Yet here was a man living in a free country where loyalty is often fleeting, standing firm on the promise he made to his wife.

He could have freed himself by letting her go, disconnecting the ventilator. Maybe it was fear of God, or perhaps love for his wife, that held him back. To me, it seemed almost unreal. But this world has all kinds of people—the unfaithful and the loyal alike. Witnessing this example firsthand deeply moved me. For a long time, the image of this man’s unwavering loyalty lingered in my mind—a man who, despite his wife’s grave condition, refused to let go of hope.


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