Today, my wife Ditoza and I are celebrating 25 years of togtherness. A silver wedding anniversary is a celebration of several things. It is a celebration of two individuals living together as husband and wife for a quarter of a century. It is a celebration of love as bright and enduring as silver. It is a celebration of love, a celebration of forgiveness, patience, kindness, joy and heart-breaks because a marriage is a mix-bag of all these. It is the time when one needs to stop and ponder what the 25 of your life would have been like if you had not married your life-partner. It is said that in this world there is one for everyone. And your wife has been chosen by the Almighty God from all eternity to be by your side in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health and more importantly in your loneliness. These 25 of my life has been a fascinating journey, full of ups and downs in our relationship. It is said that no man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married for quarter of a century. It is also said that marriages are made in heaven. But we have to live our married life on earth with all it’ shortcomings. Indeed a married life will not always be a heaven on earth. At times it can be ‘hell’. There were times when we did not talk to one another for days. There were times when I felt that I cannot live with my wife and times when I felt I cannot live without her. There were times I felt that I made the wrong choice. But then there were also times I felt there is no one in the entire world who could take her place. These 25 years was the time when I not only survived, but also thrived and lived life to the fullest. So I am not complaining. A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together but when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences. A Chinese proverb states, “Married couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking.” As I reach this important milestone in my life I wish to cherish all the good times, leave behind the bad times and move forward with all the sweet memories of the 25 years that has been a roller-coaster ride. Babra Streisand once stated “Why does a woman work 25 years to change a man, then complain he’s not the man she married?” “A successful married life requires falling in love many times, but always with the same person”. We thank the Almighty God for all the blessings He showered on us these 25, specially the gift of our two sons Croydon and Sydroy.
