I once read the following message, attributed to 19th Century author James Terry White in a commemorative verse entitled “Golden Wedding”:
These wedding bells for fifty years Have rung alternate joys and knells. Till now our deepened love endears These wedding bells. These fifty years, dear wife, have brought Much more happiness than tears, While love has many lessons taught These fifty years. Love taught us, dear, that hearts are worn By words and looks, as millstones wear; That burdens shared are easiest borne. Love taught us, dear. As years go by, with ruddier glow Shall Love adorn our sunset sky; And closer still our hearts shall grow, As years go by.
In 50 years of marriage, one would have gone through many ups and downs in life. The joys of staying together far outweigh the tears. In addition, one has to be grateful to the Almighty, whatever religion you believe, that it is through His wishes and blessing that you survive to enjoy the Golden Wedding, or any wedding anniversary, with your family.
With this humble belief and gratitude, my wife May and I celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary on November 4, 2023 – even though we were married on September 9, 1973.
My wife went through a major operation this July and had to go to the hospital for treatment every other week. I was not planning to have a celebration, but our children encouraged us to do so, hoping it would be a morale boost for my wife.
Hence, we organized the festival, knowing she could physically stand the test.
Seventy-nine guests attended the celebration.
A group of Raimondians from the Class of 1969 participated, and a few of them came from Canada. Also, a group of students I have taught and guided since 1981, 2020 and 2022 attended. Classmates of my wife’s Cantonese opera lessons also participated. My children, their spouses and our grandsons were there to make the occasion perfect.
The presence of the Raimondians made the occasion most memorable. We go back a long way. James Wong and Eddie Chiu witnessed my courting May while we were still in school uniforms. We attended parties together until we went our separate ways to our universities.
Many years later, some of us returned to Hong Kong and started our careers.
We get together more often when we had almost reached our retirement age. Hence, we have created our regular breakfast group and monthly dinner groups (see the Postscript section below for photos of the latest dinner), also bringing our partners. The rest is history.
The evening program at the anniversary started with a statue made of genuine gold, a gift from all the Raimondians. It must have cost them a fortune!
Then, the cake-cutting ceremony and an expression of thanks from me and my wife.
The Filipino band with a Chinese singer started to play when dinner was served.
In between courses, my wife and I led the first dance.
I had to guide her slowly due to her fragile condition. It was the first time we danced since the 2019 Raimondi reunion in Toronto.
Soon, the gang joined in: Eddie and Connie, Steve and Ros, and Dave and Winnie.
The evening was not only full of dancing – there was enthusiastic singing as well.
The Raimondian Singing Group performed for us. They sang a popular song in Mandarin, The Moon on Behalf of My Heart.
Humphrey Chiu applauded them from afar with this note:
The mood reached its climax when the dance floor was packed with guests dancing to Francis Wong’s solo rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone.
At 11 p.m., the band played the last song. The Raimondians were the last to leave.
We agreed that life is too short, and we shall enjoy it while we can.
I am sure that we shall see many celebrations in the future.
Congratulations from Raimondi classmates
Words of congratulations poured in from Raimondians around the world.
Patrick Y.C. Tsang was fortunate to have been among the guests present at the event itself. He agreed graciously to write the following note which eloquently captures the sentiments of the evening:
2023年11月4號是我們的好朋友，69 年那一屆好同學Lawrence大雄哥及太太May 姐50周年結婚紀念的日子。
那天晚上在CCC的會所筵開數桌，除了有美酒佳餚，我們看到的就是「柔」與「勁」！
柔，是指大雄哥與May姐在跳埋身舞時，眼神相亙的接觸，深深的凝望，使我們感嘆一對已經歷了50年的夫妻，深情恩愛竟然如此！
勁，就是當天晚上樂隊強烈的節奏，同學們扭腰的勁舞及集體洪亮的歌聲！
那天晚上的晚宴，雖然只是經歷短短兩個多小時，但歡樂的回憶縈繞，久久未能散去！
祝願大雄哥與May姐長相廝守，繼續恩愛下去！
Postscript: Monthly Class Dinner Oct. 31, 2023
Just a few days earlier, the monthly class dinner at the famous Luk Yu Restaurant was a happy reunion of many former classmates from Hong Kong and abroad.
Raimondi '69 