To have a witness

I can't remember now which book I found this story in. When I figure it out I'll add the reference here.

"There's a scene we both love in the movie Shall We Dance? The story is about a marriage that has not so much fallen on hard times as fallen into the doldrums of routine. The wife fears her husband might be having an affair; she hires a private detective to find out what he's up to. It turns out that he's spending his Wednesday nights taking ballroom dancing lessons! She tells the detective she no longer needs his services. He is intrigued by her devotion to her husband, and they have this parting conversation:

Wife: Why is it do you think that people get married?
Detective: Passion.
Wife: No.
Detective: That's interesting because I would have taken you for a romantic. Why then?
Wife: Because we need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet. I mean what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things. The bad things. The terrible things. All of it. All the time. Every day. You're saying, "Your life will never go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness."

I will be your witness. I will be your companion.

Now that's some profound and right shit.

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