In a heartbeat, by Tonia Marie Houston

To Nikki –

Hey Babe, I am so damn proud of you. You are one of the strongest people I know! You don’t have to worry. I will be by your side 100% and always. I love you with my whole heart and more.

You have a very loving family. YOU GOT TO GET BETTER. If I could take your place, I would do it in a heartbeat. I really just want you to know no matter what happens or what is done I will be with you FOREVER. I love you so much.

Love, Matthew

My brother-in-law wrote this note in a hospital, for my sister, who lay in a coma after a car accident. He spent his New Year’s thinking of her, praying for her, and loving her.

They met, through another sister of ours, that summer. By early August, they knew they were in love. I remember how he made my kid sister shine. As we all held each other up that long winter, I knew she would make it, that his love would pull her through.

It’s not often that I get to be right, but this time was one of them.

She shattered her T12 and L1 vertebrae, and is wheelchair bound, but we brought her home in April of that year.

Matt kept his promise – his love never failed her.

I had a long conversation with my sister, Nichole Lynn Wilson, about their love, and their life today. When she read aloud this note, she had tears in her voice. Then, she told me about the night he proposed.

He asked, “We have fun, right?”

They talked about all the things they had done together, everything they had together.

“I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” He told her in the spirit of romance, and dropped to one knee and asked her to be his wife.

After a few moments of dumbfounded silence, and a plea from Matt for a response, my amazing sister said, “Yes.”

They married September 20, 2008.

Not a year into their marriage, the couple surmounted another obstacle. Matt went into the hospital April 27, 2009 for a routine eye surgery. He is a Type 1 Diabetic, and complications during the anesthesiology pushed fluid into his lungs. My sister sat by his bed, tending the same vigil he had just a few short years before.

Love and angels prevail. He was released June 30th.

Happily ever after, according to my sister, is long drives, take-out, and watching movies with their Chihuahua, Abby, and Scottish Terrier, Mac, It’s not the end of a story, but a chapter. A heartbeat.

Nikki and Matt

As we ring in the new year, and reflect on loves and losses of the past years, believe in this much:

“Love never fails.”

~1 Corinthians 13

Tonia Marie Houston

Tonia Marie is a mother, writer, poet, and blogger who procrastinates in her spare time. Chocolate is her kryptonite. Tonia is working on a YA ghost story, and exploring the beautiful and bumpy terrain of self-publishing vs. the traditional market.

This story was originally posted at Tonia Marie’s blog in December, 2011, here. See Tonia Marie’s wonderful blog PassionFind. You can see Tonia Marie on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.