By Rebecca Hoeffner rhoeffner@tylerpaper.com

I awoke Nov. 1, the day before my wedding, to a throat that felt like it was on fire. I panicked.

“Oh no,” I thought. “Will I even be able to say my vows?”

I downed tea and Vitamin C like an addict and prayed for the best.

The next day, I promised to love my husband until death do us part, and luckily he and a few friends and family could hear me say it, although barely.

That was just the first of the comedy of errors that made up our honeymoon.

That sore throat was the beginning of one of the worst colds I’d had in a while. My new husband (Tyler Morning Telegraph Entertainment Editor Stewart Smith) sat with me as I spent endless hours in our very romantic cabin in the Texas Hill Country, unromantically blowing my nose and coughing endlessly. All the while he made sure I took medicine and made sure I was as comfortable as possible.

I was feeling a little better by the second night and wanted to get out that evening, so we got dressed up and headed out the door. As I stepped across the threshold, though, I misjudged how steep and uneven the entryway was and twisted my ankle so well that I had trouble holding back the tears.

He picked me up, carried me back across the threshold, set me on the couch and wrapped ice in a towel for my foot. Then he braved the very dark dirt roads to town to get a frozen pizza, and we spent the night watching a movie.

He has been taking care of me diligently ever since.

Every girl who dreams of getting married dreams of the perfect romantic honeymoon. And while I am a little sad that our fun was oh-so-slightly dampened, it occurred to me that these little hiccups made me that much more aware of my husband’s deep love.

It’s easy to love someone when they can take care of themselves. It’s a little more challenging when they need you to help them or they don’t feel up to going out and having fun.

I have definitely felt the stars in my eyes as I watched my husband do little things for me. For no other reason than he loves me.

One of the verses that was read aloud at our wedding was 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. And while I don’t think the author meant it to apply to romantic love specifically, I have always thought it contained things that are essential to making a marriage work.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

I will always look back on our honeymoon with fondness, and perhaps some chuckles, and remember that is the kind of love my husband showed me that week