An intense open letter from Preeti to her husband on their 25^th wedding anniversary. She looks back in love, exclusively for Different Truths.

My Dear Better Half,

Let me congratulate you on completion of twenty-five years of togetherness. A relationship full of hitches and glitches, which no one thought would see the light of the day. The number twenty five may just be a number as most of our life we have lived apart. Geographical miles and office files have kept us apart. The strife we have gone through could have driven us apart. Maybe as they say ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’ stood for us.

As Nicholas Sparks has said, ‘Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love. But that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.’’

I was a diehard romantic, who yearned for a knight on a white steed, wooing me and carrying me to some beautiful land on his white steed. But it seems they were my fleeting dreams…

Let me take you into flashback when I was sceptical about tying the knot with you. I was a diehard romantic, who yearned for a knight on a white steed, wooing me and carrying me to some beautiful land on his white steed. But it seems they were my fleeting dreams as out of nowhere you emerged and we were tied into holy matrimony. You looked ill at ease, naive in the art of speaking. The nerd in you came forth when you spoke to me about the educational policies. That short talk on education sealed our fate. There wasn’t anything like love at first sight in our case, I feel it is more like a connotation than reality.

Without much ado within a month of our first meeting we were hitched. There was no meeting or dating only hitching. We fitted the lyrics of Frank Sinatra’s song, ‘Strangers in the night’. We were poles apart in our thinking and upbringing. You were born and brought up in a metro, while I was a small town girl. It seemed you were devoid of the gift of the gab, while I chattered nineteen to a dozen. Your best past time is watching action packed flicks on the idiot box or playing a quiet game of solitaire, while I love reading, writing and chatting. With our varied interests it has been difficult to adapt to each other’s habits but I feel the saying ‘opposites attract’ holds good for us. There is no PDA in our relationship, which is considered a yardstick to measure love. But I feel our relationship has stood the test of time well. Ours is not the instant noodle relationship which makes up or breaks up in an instant. It is rock solid.

We had our share of yearning and cursing phase, while we stayed apart, still we bounced back with maturity.

We had our share of yearning and cursing phase, while we stayed apart, still we bounced back with maturity. I feel as Nicholas Spark says, ‘Love is like the wind, you can’t see it only feel it.’ You may be the reticent kind, not voicing your feelings but your actions say it.

The times when I hit rock bottom due to illness and depression, you helped me get back on my feet and rise like the Phoenix from the ashes. You have always been my Rock of Gibraltar and have supported me through thick and thin. I may have dreamt of you writing me long ‘Love Letters’ but never mind It was only Pat Boone’s lyrics ‘Love Letters In The Sand’ which played on my mind and I dreamt of It. Music and cinema can create an imaginary world full of romance  but reality is otherwise.

In our case we have managed to survive all the storms and reach this far in life. The vicissitudes in life have shown us the way to meander through these storms with élan.

It is said, ‘No relationship is all sunshine, but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storm together.’ In our case we have managed to survive all the storms and reach this far in life. The vicissitudes in life have shown us the way to meander through these storms with élan.

An ode to your balding pate and my peppery mane, which bears the testimony of life spent with grace. This is only there ‘When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far, no one can ever tear them apart.’

Thank you for being a part of my life.

Your Better Half,

Preeti

Photo from the Internet