It’s probably good that the wedding vows are very general. Catholic wedding vows are just two sentences long: “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

Perhaps there are a few young couples who grasp exactly what they’re promising with those sentences, but most – myself included – stand on that altar and think the words about bad times and sickness are more of a formality.

As a 25-year-old bride, sickness to me still meant a case of strep throat, and a bad time was rain at Summerfest. The naiveté of youth blended with the fairytale tulle of the wedding dress and the two-foot tall cake for dessert seemed to whisper “liar” to the hints of trouble in the vows. 

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