52 years with Marina and more…I hope

By Raja Petra Kamarudin Last updated Apr 16, 2020

Marina says a life sentence is 20 years and she has served two life sentences married to me. Well, let us hope Allah allows her three life sentences with me until 2033. By then I will be 83 if I am still around. So just maybe we will see that happen if I do not go and get Covid-19 before then.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The year we got married 1973

It is a cold sunny day here in the City of Manchester — not Manchester City, which is the rival to my club, Manchester United. It was zero degrees Celsius when I woke up this morning but will touch a high of 12 degrees by the end of the day before going back to zero by dawn tomorrow. And this is Spring, mind you, Spring of April 14th to be exact.

Yes, April 14th, the day Marina and I got married 47 years ago. And, yes again, today is our 47th wedding anniversary — although Marina and I consider ourselves as being together for 52 years. We met back in 1968 when she was in form two and I was in form five. Hence, we were 14 and 17 respectively the day fate threw us together.

With my parents and brother, Idris, in England 1953

We will not be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate our anniversary. That is because no restaurants are open. Anyway, even if they are, I would not want to risk getting Covid-19 and miss my 70th birthday party this September.

Yes, on 27th September 2020 I will be 70, the age which, according to the government, puts us at the maximum risk of dying from Covid-19 if we happen to catch the coronavirus (or it catches us). So why risk dying just to eat a piece of dead cow?

Akad nikah

I hope, in 2023, to write another piece telling you Marina and I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary — also known as the ‘golden anniversary’. That’s three years from now and if Covid-19 does not get me I shall be pushing 73. Hence, until they find a cure or vaccine for Covid-19, the government suggests those of my age should stay home.

I know many are going crazy staying at home. But after two stints of solitary confinement under the Internal Security Act — where you just stare at blank walls 24-7 — confinement is not really a problem. Try solitary confinement for months on end and then see if you are still playing with a full deck of cards at the end of it.

Bersanding 1973

Marina says a life sentence is 20 years and she has served two life sentences married to me. Well, let us hope Allah allows her three life sentences with me until 2033. By then I will be 83 if I am still around. So just maybe we will see that happen if I do not go and get Covid-19 before then.

Well, as Boris Johnson said, stay home and stay safe and get to celebrate many birthdays and anniversaries to come.