A memory from many years ago. A note to 27 years celebration of stronger love

Every girl has her dream. Though not like most girls, I also had a dream, that someday, I could marry a man, close to my expectations. The journey was not as easy as I thought. But finally, I met the man of my dreams—an Ambonese guy who always made me laugh and could easily accept my addiction to food. We prepared for our wedding in full excitement.

The story began here. The wedding invitations have been delivered to every single invitee. I went to work. It was a usual Saturday morning, a week before my wedding. 7 February 1998. When I arrived at the office, one colleague asked me to have breakfast at Soto Blok M, near the office. Following my food addiction, though I had my breakfast less than an hour before, I took the invitation with gusto.

I was hoping lightly, back to my desk to take my purse. When I almost reached the door, I slipped. What happened next was vague. I didn’t know what happened. What I knew only, I saw something popping out of my mouth. A few moments later I found out, it was a part of my front tooth, three-quarters of it.

After a moment of hysterical episode, and a few calls to my mom, my future husband, and a dentist, I went home. A bride-to-be, lost three-quarters of her front tooth, with a smile of Pippi Long-Stocking, a week before the wedding. My mom was crying. My future husband could not hold his laughter. My sisters stood in shock.

Well, there would be no wedding call-off. So we did every single thing to fix my tooth within a week. Voila! I was ready to get married on time.

The big day came. My tooth was back in its place and looked quite pretty. No problem. At least I didn’t have to go to the Church with the look of Pippi Long stocking. I was well prepared to go to the Church and received the blessing for my marriage.

The holy matrimony process went smoothly and sweetly. I even could say my marriage promise without a break. I remembered every single word. It was perfect. Then we were ready to exchange rings. My man did his part smoothly. Nothing would go wrong with me, right? Well, you can hope for the best. But sometimes, you must prepare for the worst too.

When I took the ring from the Pastor’s hand, it slipped off my fingers, fell, and rolled. A big laughter burst from the congregation. What the?? In a panic mood, I need a few seconds to find the ring. I was lucky, it didn’t go too far. It only went under my ballooning wedding dress’ skirt. My husband, who has the heart of an ocean, smiled and gave me the look of “It’s OK, I knew this gonna happen. I was well prepared for this” Blushing, along with chuckled friends and my grinning Priest, we continued and finished the whole process till the end.

Every time we celebrate our anniversary, I will always look back to this one story and am truly very grateful. My tooth and my ring incidents were a few of the unforgettable embarrassing stories to tell, but they were also part of the moments to remember. A funny story, a reminder to myself, how blessed I am to have a man, who loves me with his whole heart, as my life partner for the last 27 years of our marriage.