The first letter I received from my grandfather in basic training was mostly about his experiences in his own basic training.

Toward the end of the letter, he gave me a brief update on the failing health of my grandmother. By this time she was unable to speak, and was pretty much stuck in a bed all day. He said that it was very difficult taking care of her and himself at his age, but he remembered a promise he made nearly 50 years before that, “Something about for better or worse.”

Unfortunately, in my idiocy over the years, I lost the letter, but I remember the words to this day, and I recited them at his funeral.