the wedding vow

Cristina, I could promise to hold you and to cherish you. I could promise to be there in sickness and in health. I could say 'til death do us part.

But I won’t.

Those vows are for optimistic couples, the ones full of hope, and I do not stand here on my wedding day optimistic or full of hope. I am not optimistic. I am not hopeful.

I am sure. I am steady.

And I know that I’m a hard man. Take them apart, put them back together, I hold them in my hands. I am a hard man. So this, I am sure, you are my partner, my lover, my very best friend. My heart, my heart beats for you, and on this day, the day of our wedding, I promise you this:

I promise you to lay my heart in the palm of your hands.

I promise you ME.

- Dr. Preston Burke
Grey's Anatomy, Season 3 Episode 25