my 2 cents, sorry kinda windy

You make jerky like I did in the old days.  Pretty much the same marinade.   Back then I ate it so fast I didn't add cure to it and I believe opinions are mixed on the forum about the need for cure in Jerky.  I take the attitude that if you are making it and will either eat if fairly quickly or store in the fridge then cure isn't required.  If you intend to throw a bag in the glove box of your care and forget about it you should cure it.

Sorry to hear about all the health problems,  Things get a lot more difficult when you need to take care of someone you care about.

First off I'm sorry to hear about your wifes health,my brother in law also suffers from parkinson's.Growing up in Sierra Vista - Cochise county was my playground and he and my sis would come out to visit a couple times a year.What a huge influence in my young life he was and still to this day. He was a hot rodder and wheeler building most all his machines,when it came to twisting wrenches,welding,  fabricating I don't think there was anything he couldn't. So when he went to the VA for a Dr. visit on a unrelated issue and the dr noticed (whatever it was) ,asked him (so how long have you had parkinsons) it caught him off gaurd,heck I think he had to go look it up to see what it was.Anyway now it has ben several years later and he and sis are learning to live with it (meds, humor and there strength) I was just there for a few days and had a blast with the visit,there are several projects that he is working on that are going a little slower than normal but he is persistant and will get some done.Any-who your jerky post made me think of what my sis told me while there that my BOL want to find a young kid (head on streight) thats eager to learn and teach him welding, etc than give him his welding equitment-I thought to myself what a extremly lucky kid that will be. Back to jerky,I also was and will again be a jerky maker and love the passion you have-had for making it.You live in a special spot on this earth,and if we can just continue keeping it a secret we can save it for a tad bit longer. good luck with you and your wife.