Love of mine some day you will die
but I’ll be close behind.
I’ll follow you into the dark.

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white,
just our hands clasped so tight
waiting for the hint of a spark.
If heaven and hell decide
that they both are satisfied.
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs.

If there’s no one beside you
when your soul embarks,
then I’ll follow you into the dark.

In Catholic school, as vicious as Roman rule,
I got my knuckles brusied by a lady in black.
And I held my tongue as she told me
“Son, fear is the heart of love”
so I never went back

If heaven and hell decide
that they both are satisfied,
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs.

If there’s no one beside you
when your soul embarks,
then I’ll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
from Bangkok to Calgary
and the soles of your shoes are all worn down.
The time for sleep is now,
It’s nothing to cry about
‘cause we’ll hold each other soon.
The blackest of rooms

If heaven and hell decide
that they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there’s no one beside you
When your soul embarks
then I’ll follow you into the dark.
Then I’ll follow you into the dark

The YouTube star Kina Grannis and her sisters sing a cover of this song.

At first, it makes me think of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, with Orpheus heading out for Hades in order to bring his beloved back.

But I met one of my patients again whose wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 8-9 years ago, and they had moved into an Independent Living facility. He has a lot of medical problems and is in fact on oxygen for his ephysema and has been somewhat saddened by the fact that he can’t really take care of her. He and his daughters have decided that it would probably best to house her in the dementia unit.

But I think of his devotion to her. She will always be his one and only, even though the disease has been stripping her of what makes her her.

And I got pretty damn teary eyed. “For better and for worse, they told me,” he said matter-of-fact. “She would do the same, maybe more, if it were the other way around.”

And, even though I know I may never find an answer to this question: how do I find a love like that?