Re-entering life after a major illness might be the most challenging part of the whole getting sick thing. It makes me scratch the hair that’s finally growing in and ask, “How do I belong?” I’ve got a lot of catching up to do to understand what’s been going on without me.

But then I remind myself, it’s no different than Mork and Mindy. Did you love that show, too?

I never dreamed I’d play the Robin Williams role. Alex was always supposed to be the funny man, and I was the foil.

Coming to the United States for the first time in high school, he made a great Mork.

He has a brother named Mark. Sometimes he even wears a red sweater when he calls his parents. Oh, and you won’t catch him saying na-nu na-nu, but he’ll say hi in other tongues: bonjour and hola.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

His motherland might as well have been Ork, coming from Bolivia. So when I finally met Alex 10 years later, I had Mindy written all over me.

It was so much fun to teach Alex all I knew about being American. It’s not very often that happens. I could introduce him to all his firsts: Halloween costume parties and hayrides, Thanksgiving and turkey gatherings, opening up the presents on Christmas day instead of Christmas Eve, and live Christmas trees.

When Alex moved into the city, I taught him about the big apple, Sunday brunches, ordering in, museums and theater.

When we got tired of doing the American thing, we traveled. And when Alex applied for his citizenship and couldn’t leave the country, we took sail in the American Virgin Islands.

We rented a 30-foot yacht, a captain, and a cook. When the sun went down, we’d lay on the deck with the captain and cook and take in the nightly sky show.

The captain loved Alex and all of his joking and carrying on. Everyone loved Mork anyway; Mindy didn’t get any laughs, after all.

But then the captain turned to me, and I thought I misheard him. He said, “You’re so lucky to have a guy like Alex.”

Ahem. There was no “Ay, ay captain” from this mate. “You mean he’s lucky to have a girl like me.”

It has been an often quoted moment of our marriage (second only to some random guy who once said, “I”m sorry for your misfortunes.”.)

But seriously, was he for real? I was the good catch, not Alex.

And from that point on, our marriage has gone on like that. Who’s luckier? Mork or Mindy?

We would have been just fine being lost in na-nu, na-nu like that forever.

You know when you get married, it’s always “For better.” The fun times and the laughter. Who wants to think about the “for worse” part?

Maybe Alex had his “for worse” moments. But if you count both of his operations, they ended up as funny stories. Or the time he picked up a heavy rock to keep the dog from escaping and pulled his back out. He got on a plane and iced it so long he wondered why he was still in pain a week later. So he went to the doctor to discover he did nothing to his back, but he did get second-degree burns from the ice.

So it turns out I never had a “for worse” moment. That’s how it was supposed to be. I would have played Mindy and stay lost in na-nu na-nu forever. But Mork and Mindy had to come to an end.

I remember asking Mom, “What happened to Mork and Mindy?” I think I had even stopped watching it before it got canceled. But our parents had to explain things such as shows going off the air because no one was watching them anymore. (And then we felt like it was all our fault. If only I had been watching it).

But my “for worse” was worse than any of Alex’s worsts combined. I went off the air while Alex had to pick up the pieces and play Mork and Mindy.

And now I don’t know anymore if I’m Mork or Mindy. Did I teach Alex, or did he teach me? Am I the lucky one, or is he?

I know he kept our family together while I fell asleep watching Next Top Model reruns with the girls. He has been my body, mind, and soul when I didn’t have anything left of any of them.

And even now, my favorite part of the day is when it’s time for bed, and he tucks me in. He pulls up the covers to my neck, just the way I like it, so I don’t get cold. And then he puts my sleep machine on, which turns me into Darth Vader. Even though I said I love you, I repeat it while the air breaths out.

And he laughs.