This year I was invited to a home in Richmond to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with a couple that I had never met. I was warned by relatives of the couple that I may be upset with the wife’s condition, but as a minister I have seen a lot, and nothing upsets me.

First a little background: the couple are in their mid-50s, the wife has been bedridden with MS for over 25 years. The husband has equipped his wife’s bedroom with two TVs, one on either side of the bed so that she may watch television regardless of her position, and a fish tank that she enjoys watching is nearby. Her room is immaculately clean and so is she. There is a camera that he can watch from work to make sure she is well taken care of and that there is no emergency. He employs nurses’ aides five days a week to make sure that she is taken care of and turned frequently to avoid bedsores and make sure that her every need is met.

He takes over her care every day and night after work, and always cares for her over the weekend, bathing, changing the bedding and making her comfortable.

My friend invited me, and when we arrived we were warmly greeted by the husband. There were other relatives there and more came during the day. The husband was busy cooking the turkey and taking care of the details of the dinner, yet he never neglected his guests or his wife!

Before and after dinner the husband would quietly slip away from the crowd and gently and tenderly check on his wife and cover her if she had become uncovered. His tenderness and concern for her were always evident.

In this day and age when the trend is to “put away” permanently ill relatives in nursing homes and other medical facilities, visiting them seldom if ever, I was deeply touched by his dedication and devotion to his wife. There was no flamboyant announcement of “I must take care my wife.” Just simply love, devotion and dedication!

As Christmas approaches I pray that we will all keep this example of love, devotion and true dedication in mind. When we ask “what would Jesus do,” I saw the true answer up close and very personal. I hope that we will all keep this in mind as we share Christmas with our friends and family.

Merry Christmas and God bless you all!

REV. FURMAN JOYE lives in Prospect. His email address is furmanjoye@centurylink.net.