TWENTY FIFTH

     It's our twenty fifth anniversary. We were blessed in marriage together with other 1,274 couples on January 12, 1989. Twenty five years passed. Today we and some other people celebrated in a restaurant in Oakland. 
     I tried and am trying to keep a bright, happy attitude. It is a happy occasion, isn't it? 


     My husband likes to buy things for me online. Recently, he bought me a dress. I can only say that it's a total departure from my usual color scheme! It has brown, yellow and ecru patterns, with sequence adorning the whole of the chest area. I would have never wore it just a few years ago, but, somehow, I became braver, or may be, decided that nothing would make enough difference to make me look thinner. I opted for wearing that dress today to the anniversary dinner. As I stood in it in front of the metal doors of our refrigerator, I noticed that the sequence were throwing bright reflections on the metal. Hanah said that it looked, kind of, like traffic lights at night!

My dress

See the reflection?

     Not at all like a usual me, I threw caution (and a considerable portion of good taste) to the wind, donned the dress on, put on make up, paused for a picture, 

and Taka and I departed for the restaurant.
     Everyone already gathered by the time that we arrived. We took some more pictures, greeted our acquaintances, found places at one round table and sat down to dinner.

     Most of the people at our table were not our close friends. We smiled and talked about kids, but pauses were painful sometimes. They all had Smartphones and sent pictures, received messages to and from Facebook or even each other. To one of them asking me: "Don't you have a Smartphone?" - I answered - "No, my phone costs $10 dollars, and my life is fast enough without the Smartphone." She agreed with me but continued playing with hers. 

Here they are,
playing with their best friends,
Smartphones

   

     Our food arrived shortly after a small introduction and a prayer. Plates were beautifully arranged, it all looked perfect.

Fillet Mignon with 

mashed potatoes and veges.

     As dinner proceeded, there were speeches and song offerings from various couples. The Smartphone fiends continued their preoccupation with Facebook. Oh, yeah, we played a game: which couple knew most about one year in the nineteen eighties. Taka and I lost. 

I and my handsome husband.
 Soon I will go on Weight Management Program and
lose lots of weight!

     So far, I smiled a lot, but my heart stayed closed. What about the others? Did they feel the same? To listen to Mr. P., who counsels a lot of my church members, a lot of them feel the same as me: betrayed and used, at sea and unprepared for relationships with their spouses. I guess, like me, they prefer to grin and bear it!

     Almost as soon as dinner was done, Taka and I left. One of the people at our table managed to interject as we were leaving: "Like your dress! Very festive!" I don't think he was sincere at all! Everything else was fine. My heart wasn't. We were given a gift: a picture frame with the words: "25th Anniversary. Two hearts celebrating one love". 
     I showed it to Taka and asked: "Does this apply to us?" He said: "Why not?" Doesn't this smart (smarter than a Smartphone!), sensitive man understand, how far we are from that word: love?