April 24. Rhea
stared at herself in the mirror. White wedding gown, a dainty smile on the lips,
and a bunch of flowers in her hand; she found it hard to believe what she saw. She
never thought she would live to see this day. She didn’t think she would be
getting married. After a year of fighting cancer, she had come to accept that
her life would be shorter than she wanted. Her dreams shrunk, her fond memories
grew wider and she loved people a lot more now. And as she stepped out to join
her to-be-husband Joy in the aisle, with her father by her side, she looked up, trying to blink away tears. In her efforts not to cry, she darted her eyes
everywhere and she saw this young couple who were seated at the rear end of
the nave. She smiled, because they reminded her of the happy days of her and
Joy, memories that seemed light years away. This man had won her heart two
years ago. He loved her like a Goddess and he made her laugh even at times when
she had lost hope in life. She rightly called him ‘the man beyond her dreams’
as he used to sit with her by the hospital bed, holding her hands and smiling
at her. He was the biggest source of her strength for he never let her cry,
even when she went through pain and agony. He knew she wasn’t going to live
long, yet he wanted to marry her. He persuaded her and her family into this
wedding. Her family was overwhelmed, and she felt luckier with each passing day.
And now as she walked towards the chancel, she slightly looked out of the
decorated windows to the see the couple sit on the bench, the guy pulling his
girl closer. They seemed so much in love and Rhea wished she had a longer life
to make happier memories with Joy. In a few minutes, they were pronounced husband
and wife. As Rhea’s mom hugged her and cried, Joy looked at Rhea, smiling with
more than one emotion involved, silently thinking, ‘I won’t let you go’. That evening,
St.Marks Cathedral saw one of the noblest weddings.
November 24. He
looked far away, lost in thoughts, oblivious to the fact that he was staring at
a girl who was buying some flowers at the stall. He shifted his gaze to the little two-year-old
in her short white gown run around, with her slightly-bigger brother trying to
slow her down. He looked up at the birds rushing home and the traffic getting
noisier on the roads. The dusk had fallen and Joy was sitting just outside Infant
Jesus Church that he visited every Sunday -until six weeks ago. He looked
around, yet not seeing anything, lost in places unknown, and trying to
understand how things had changed in life. He threw the cigarette butt down and
put it out, vowing to himself that he shouldn’t be smoking so many. It was his
tenth for the day. ‘She would get angry with me for this’, he thought as he
shook his head quietly. He so wanted to rush back home, to his lone apartment,
where he could seek comfort in the vacuum-like silence and be absorbed in more
thoughts. He hadn’t been to work for the last 41 days nor had he been out of
his house in those weeks.
Still deep in thoughts, he made his way inside through the
porch. He lit two candles and as he tried to close his eyes and pray, he felt
his hands tremble. He couldn’t believe that he trusted God again, just 42 days
after he lost trust in everything in this world. After the day that took away
his love from him. As the melted drops of wax dripped down from the candles, he
also realized his cheeks weren’t dry anymore. As he tried hard to talk to God, he couldn’t
brush away the images of the happy two and a half years they shared. He always
knew he would be this someday, he kept hoping against it, hoping for miracles.
As he started driving back home, a lot of thoughts poured in
his semi-absent mind. He was happy that the two and the half years that he had
spent with Rhea had been the most meaningful years of his life. The happiest
ones indeed – something he knew he would never have again. But he was proud of
his love, his unconditional love for his Rhea. His Rhea. He still loved her and
he always thought that she lived in a safe place now, and he could always go
all the way to meet her someday. As he waited for the signal to turn green, a
little boy (about 8 years old) knocked on his window. The lad was selling
kites. Joy was rolling the window down, when he heard a loud screech and he
turned to look at a sedan stop an inch away from a little stray pup. The lad
selling kites jumped to the other side of the road to pick the pup up. As he
carried the tiny pup to the pavement, something made Joy halt the car to the
side of the road and run to them. He smiled at the little lad, patting him on
his back and few minutes later, Joy put the pup in his front seat like a baby and
took him home. Both of them had found some love that evening. Everyone needs
love, after all.
Joy was sure of this - Love
stretches beyond forever. And forever does not have boundaries, even if it
means worlds apart.
