Anniversary Wishes

He watched her knit with her trembling hands, sitting in front of the tv. When she watched the tv she stopped knitting. And then she would focus back on her knitting and forget the tv. This went on for a while.

He arranged the table for a dinner for two he was specially planning for the day. Their 30th wedding anniversary. The night had to be different from their usual TV dinners on trays. It had been ages since they’d sat on the dining table and had a meal.

She was knitting away as she asked, “where’s my dinner, am hungry”. She was usually soft spoken, but her raised voice made him look up from the table he was setting. “Just a few minutes more honey,” he said adjusting the candle stand in the middle of the table.

“It’s our anniversary today you know,” he reminded her. He knew her Alzheimer’s was rapidly progressing and he wasn’t surprised the day had slipped past her. She turned around to look at him and all he saw was a blank vacant face staring at him. Her brown eyes had lost the twinkle of those early days and now the sad eyes looked at him expressionless. He smiled at her as he mouthed a kiss towards her, getting the table ready. She turned back and continued knitting.

Once he completed the table, he walked up to her and in a waltzing manner took her hand as he led her towards the table. She looked at him with her surprised eyes. He still looked handsome to her, despite his thinning hair and wrinkled skin. She placed her hand spontaneously on his shoulder, as he led her to the dining table.

She looked in awe as he made her sit on her spot at the dining table. The spread on the table was impressive. He had neatly synchronised the dinner plates and soup bowls and even taken out fresh napkins and mats. She looked around the table to find grilled chicken and sautéed vegetables and potato&leek soup. There was an assortment of bread and cheese too.

“What’s today”, she asked him as she continued staring at the spread on the table.

“It’s our anniv…”, he was answering, when he was stopped mid sentence by her again.

“What’s the date today? Which day is it?”

“It’s Thursday the 6th,” he sighed. Despite adjusting with her illness there were times he felt defeated and tired.

She got off the table with a “I’ll just be back” look to him. He kept sitting at the table fidgeting with his fork, his head bowed down.

The gentle strains of the ukelele surprised him as he got up with a start. He looked up to see her standing in front of him playing the instrument with her fragile trembling hands. As she mouthed some of the words from Love Me Tender, he found the tears streaming down his cheeks. He dropped the fork on the table as he kept staring at her beautiful face as she sang and hummed for him, smiling her angelic smile at him all the while. Like always, she looked more beautiful when she was singing.

He got up from his chair and went up to her and took her in his arms. She looked up at him and whispered “Happy anniversary darling. Did you forget the day today?”

He kissed her and then hugged her tight and said “no my darling how could I”.

“I hope you’ve made my favourite soup and chicken then,” she said as she sat down after ages on the dining table.

Copyright (C) Pratik Majumdar