God's gifts: The devotion of a loving spouse
By KATIE LEFEBVRE
Globe staff writer
Posted September 5, 2002

CARROLL - The gift of a devoted spouse is something that Ed Montgomery shares with his wife Rita. Ed has been taking care of Rita since May of 1984 when she had a stroke during surgery.

"Rita had complete loss of memory, couldn't talk. She had no idea where she was, who she was, what happened. She was a completely lost individual," commented Ed.

After the surgery, the couple spent 60 days in Des Moines at Iowa Methodist Hospital. People worked with Rita at the rehabilitation center.

"She was wheelchair bound and we couldn't live in our home," said Ed. "I rented an apartment out at the health center. We lived out there for a year while we taught her to walk."

Another thing that she learned how to do was to write with her left hand since her right side was paralyzed.

"After seven or eight years, I got to thinking that there must be something else we could do," said Ed. He didn't want a doctor to say that if he had come 10 years earlier that the doctor could have done something.

The couple ended up going to Iowa City and a psychiatrist spent three hours with Rita. A CAT scan was done to show where the brain damage was located. The doctors told the couple that they were doing all that could be done.

"They said that most of these cases, they stick them in a wheelchair in front of the TV set and just forget them," said Ed. "We didn't do that, we worked with her everyday and she still does her exercises."

Rita also keeps a daily journal. She accounts for all of the things that she does during the day. She writes what she had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If she calls a friend, she writes down what she talked about.

"She keeps track all the way through the day," said Ed. "If we go for a drive, she writes about what we see. Everything she does is written down. I think one of our drawers has 18 years of her journals."

Ed has been taking care of Rita for 18 years now. He has help from two ladies that come to the house everyday. One lady comes Monday and Tuesday and the other comes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

"When we were married, the vows were there," added Ed. "It was through sickness and in health until death do you part. That is just the way it was."

Coincidentally, Ed's business is tied to the church. The business decorates or redecorates churches. Today he explained, his son pretty much runs the business, and he is his advisor. One of the more recent projects was the renovation of the church in Breda. The priest there gave him a plaque for beautifying the church.

While Ed is with his wife most of the time, the nurses stay with Rita if Ed has to leave on business overnight or something.

Ed commented that this situation has taught him to appreciate God's gift of health. He will be 89 years old and neither he nor his wife need any medications.

"She never spent a minute feeling sorry for herself," said Ed. "Once she was able to figure out what had happened, she never blamed anybody else. She didn't blame the Lord or anyone. That was the way it was and that's the way she was going to take care of it."

Ed said he takes care of his wife every day because it is his duty as a devoted husband.