Wednesday 15. April 2020

I remember exactly to the minute, what I did on this day twenty years ago; Steve and I were married and today we celebrate a big anniversary.  So long with one guy and Steve with one woman; that’s for a medal, don’t you think?  After a wedding in my Czech hometown followed two weeks later by a blessing in a Warwickshire village church, we went on our honeymoon to the Caribbean island of Antigua. We had an idyllic time and were supposed to be going again in May to celebrate.  Our arrival would be twenty years later to the day – and almost to the minute – of when we previously left.  All was planned and paid for, including that my nephew Jirka would arrive in Sri Lanka in late April and after some family time together, mind the children whilst we were away.  We’d even stop in the UK for a couple of days en route and surprise our friends and Steve’s family as well as celebrate his brother Stu’s birthday.  The stars were all lined up perfectly on every front.  Instead, we’re under military curfew, going nowhere and with the trip cancelled.  Steve is now engaged in the fun and games of trying to obtain a very substantial refund without EU aviation or credit card protection.  Not quite what we envisaged.

To celebrate our anniversary somehow, at least a nice dinner would be good.  The children could serve us and take care of the entertainment.  We have a tradition that for such celebrations Steve cooks juicy beef steaks with fries and vegetables (usually a tasty ratatouille with Rosemary), just like the first meal he ever cooked for me.  Where do you get a beef steak delivered under lock down though, especially after the coinciding of Easter plus Tamil and Sinhalese New Years meaning stocks were depleted and nobody was delivering anything other than Pizza!  Hotels were down to delivering hamburgers, and restaurants only had Sri Lankan rice and curry they could offer.  I did not give up and at the last minute in the morning managed to contact a distributor of frozen goods via WhatsApp.  After pleading that today was a 20th wedding anniversary so I’d rather not wait until tomorrow, he jumped on his motorbike and brought me 1.8kg of frozen beef tenderloin, a huge packet of frozen minced lamb, apple pie and two boxes of frozen fruit. Very expensive, but great – we’d have a celebratory dinner and plenty left for later!

In the morning we had a lie in, I made Steve his favourite omelette with chilli and cheese, and I made myself a luxurious oat cake with fruit and yogurt.  All day I relaxed, did some chores and looked after the children once Steve went down to the business centre in the mid-morning to work.  He closed his computer lid at 18.30 pm and come up to finish cooking the dinner with prepared potatoes and vegetables.  Whilst he did this, I sat on the balcony listening to live music. Yes, you read correctly, live music.  The Army, Navy, Air Force and Police bands have been travelling the country to play music to the curfewed population and keep spirits up.  With perfect timing, the Colombo Army Corps chose to play our apartment complex on the evening of our anniversary!

Dinner was excellent bar the meat being a little tough despite great care cooking it (probably an old Sri Lanka cow!).  Steve opened our penultimate bottle of red wine.  Emilka arranged the desert herself and also organized a game of Mr. and Mrs.  Very entertaining, and yes, we Steve and I know each other very well!  We sat on the balcony, enjoying the music and remembering our wedding day.  The band even played a request for our first dance (Rod Stewart’s arrangement of “Have I told you lately that I love you?”), which was very touching.  Afterwards, they announced a dedication to us and a cheer went up from across balconies and those residents watching down by the pool.  When the cheer had died down, our Kurdish friends called over from their tower with a lovely wish, too.  Very emotional, very special and some compensation for the turn of events.

So, our 20th wedding anniversary celebration was interesting, different and special in lots of ways that we will never forget.

After two decades, the symbol of marriage is said to be a gift from porcelain.  The logic is that we should not be taking those 20 years together for granted and instead should be careful not to break it.  We will therefore continue to love and cherish each other and work collaboratively to achieve common goals for the next 20 years.

Rennie