The Marriage Becomes a Schedule
It starts with logistics. Someone has to take Papa to the cardiologist on Thursday. Someone has to make sure Ma takes her metformin before dinner. Someone has to call the part-time nurse, argue with the insurance desk, pick up the compression stockings from the medical store. The marriage, which used to be a relationship between two people, becomes a coordination system. You stop asking each other how you are. You start asking each other what still needs to be done.
