Simple Wedding Vows (90 Seconds)

The vows

Jolene, for three years I worked nights at the warehouse. I got home at a quarter to seven in the morning, and every time, the porch light was still on. You'd be asleep. You'd switched it on at ten the night before so I wouldn't have to find the lock in the dark.

I never asked you to do that. You just did it, and kept doing it, even in summer, when it was light out by the time I pulled in.

That's how you take care of people. Quietly, and every day, and without making a thing of it.

So here is what I want to give back.

I will take out the trash before you have to remind me. I'll learn to make your mom's chili the right way, with the beans she swears by. I'm going to be on time more often than I'm late. When we argue, I'll say what's really bothering me instead of banging cupboards. And when things get hard, I promise to stay in the room and work it out with you.

I'm on days now. You get home after I do.

I'll leave the light on for you.

Why it works: There isn't a single dressed-up line in it, and it doesn't need one, because the porch light does the work. The promises are chores and habits anyone could picture, plus one bigger one about staying in the room during a fight. The ending gives the light back to her, which is the whole point of the vows in seven words.