HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! (TALES OF INCLUSIVITY) #Blogchatter #WriteAPostADay

                                                             Shutterfly.com

Wedding anniversaries are special days, no doubt. Memories, both happy and sad, assail you as you look back at that one day when your life changed completely. When you were slimmer and younger, dressed to the nines, the cynosure of all eyes; the day when a new person came into your life, for better or for worse.

Those were the days when romance reigned supreme, and in our case, Valentine’s Day was just two days away. So, whichever direction we cast our eye, all we could see was red heart-shaped balloons and cards screaming out love messages for all they were worth. Of course, these were the days before hoodlums ranted and raved, smashing everything that hinted at Love, which they claimed was ‘Western’ and the avalanche of ‘pink chaddis’ that followed in quick succession.

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 I guess we always associated love with a sublime feeling, never linking it to the East or the West. From time immemorial, Love has always been romanticized by poets, writers, singers, musicians and artists. Tomes have been written on the subject, crazed lovers have etched letters with their blood and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ who died for Love have gone down in history.

Ever wondered why Love has always been defined as that sinking sensation within the heart that drowns you, leaving you breathless and unable to think straight? That is when the red hearts and pink ribbons make sense! Over the years, if you had to cling on to that variant of Love, it would be too much work, wouldn’t? Hence, it is but natural that the heartbeats slow down, the drowning sensation disappears, and one is left with the best part of Love – companionship.

Surprise gifts were always on the menu. I remember saving money, purloined from house expenses and my husband’s purse, and creating a special kitty before every birthday and every anniversary. The planning would be covert, the gift would be specially wrapped and hidden away so well that the man of the house would not suspect a thing. However, as the years went by, I realized that however well I planned things, this man would sniff it out, his Army genes working overtime.

The most difficult thing to hide was when I planned a surprise birthday party for him for his 60th. Everything was done behind his back, the phone calls, the catering, the cake, the venue and the number of guests. The entire family helped in the covert operation, and I kept my phone with me even when I went to the loo.

We managed to keep it as secret as we possibly could. Except that, on the morning of the special day, a well-meaning Uncle called up my husband to say that he would not be able to come for the celebration. The best laid plans going awry, as it were.

Luckily, when he finally got to the hotel where we had organized the get-together, he was pleasantly surprised to see many friends whom he had not expected, all waiting to wish him.

As the years have meandered by, new additions have come and enriched our family. When my daughter, Priyanka was a toddler, she was like the veritable Pied Piper, followed by all the younger ones in the Unit which we were part of. Today, she is much married, with two little ones who are a piece of our hearts. The friends she had when she was young are all either married or in well settled jobs, a normal progression which reveals how the wheel of life moves on, slowly but inexorably. We have lost family members and friends, some too early to move on. These losses just remind us of the frailty of human life and reinforce the fact that life is meant to be loved and lived.

As the quote ascribed to Abraham Lincoln goes:

“In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

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Today happens to be our 37th wedding anniversary and the reason I write about it is to dedicate this day to my husband who has always held my hand and kept us going. This birthday, on mutual consent, we agreed not to give each other gifts as we are in the process of buying a house, which, in itself, is a giant gift to each other.

My sister and brother-in-love (we have no in-laws in the family!) were wishing us and as is the norm, we joked about the diamond necklace that is mentioned in the family every time an occasion comes round but remains a chimera. Before ending the conversation, I said, “Well, we are gifting each other a house. Though frankly, it is more of a gift from my husband to me, than the other way round.”

Pat came the reply from my brother-in-love, one that has earned him brownie points for a whole year!  

“He gives you a house, you give him a home!”

Amen to that!

 Word Count: 830

 

 

 

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