For a love that is rare

Ladies and gentlemen, this speech is not a surprise, I have been practicing this speech and refining it for a quite long time to be told on this day, to the point that even if Naduni didn’t request me to do the toast I would have still grabbed a mike and made this speech. I don’t think I need an introduction, those who know me, know who she is and those who know her, know who I am.

We have been stuck together for decades for so long that we call each other cotyledons, two inseparable leaves of a germinating seeds. But we are not that anymore, we have grown into towering trees today and she is going to start a new life today in a greener land.

I can go on telling our story, our history, how we met, our memories but I don’t wish to make a typical wedding toast, instead I thought of telling you something I have always wanted to say, for I cannot think of a better day to say this.

Our pretty bride today is the best girl you will ever meet, compassionate, respectful and brainy. I have known her for almost two decades and I have never met an equal. I knew her from early days, when she was a 5th grader, with glasses as big as her face. I knew her as a teenager, still nerdy. We were the nerdy group of the class doted by teachers hated by peers for obvious reasons including our innovative presentations and reminding teachers about forgotten homework!! I knew her as a beautiful young lady, a blooming scholar in the university.

I was with her in every chapter of her life, from school to the leadership camp where we even coincidentally shared bunk beds. I was even there when her love story began. I actually used to be her relationship advisor back then but it didn’t take long for our roles to reverse, and now I take advice from her. I saw her growing up, morphing into the bold, pretty and brainy young lady she has now become. It was fascinating to see her grow up which always made me tell her “I want to raise my children the way you were raised”.

Now let me tell you something important, something nobody might have told you. Something all of us should know and understand.

Naduni, my life and my experience have taught me the hard way that in our life not for everybody we can stand up for unconditionally. If you can stand up for someone, support someone whether they are right or wrong, even if they commit a crime or do something you personally loath or disapprove of, if you can be there for someone without fail, no matter how weird their dreams are, you know that you love them without bounds. Loves of that kind transcend all petty definitions you find in poetry and novels because such loves don’t come easy. It takes a deep-rooted affection, profound courage and relentless faith to stick to somebody absolutely no matter what.

Naduni, I know that such bonds are extremely rare in our lives and I only have a handful of such loves. And I’m glad that for the past twenty years we have always been that for each other. I promise you, it shall remain the same, you will always be an unconditional love of me and an exception to every limitation I might have imposed on others.

I don’t know where my life would take me, but I wish I will always ricochet back to you like we always did, wherever we be in this small world, and I will impatiently and excitedly wait for the next intersection of our paths.

Thank you for being there for me for the past two decades, for being a best friend, a sister, for reminding me of my worth when I have forgotten my own, for telling me ‘Hasarel leave now and thank me later’ when I was astray.

From today onwards a whole new world awaits you, in that I also mean allocating a fair amount of your study time to care of this great man you have taken as your partner for life. We know you are super serious about studying, but make sure he is kept nourished. Dear groom I suggest you download a legal dictionary just to be prepared, because she might use a lot of jargon that only she understands. And Naduni’s lawyer buddies, make sure they never come to you with any kind of WanigasingheVsWanigasinghe.

Okay, forget my wit, it still startles me to see you as a bride. The first time I saw you ornate with the traditional bridal headdress the thun thella, it first shook me, left me utterly speechless and then I had to fight back my tears, me somebody who hardly cries. It came us an ultimate reminder of how time has passed, how much we have grown up, and how we are long past our childish pleasantries.

You know me Naduni, I’m not somebody who speaks much, I tend to keep my feelings, no matter how profound they are, in deepest bottoms of my heart. But today is not a day I can conceal my feelings. If not for today, when could I ever find a better day, so let me say it out loud, with more than 300 people here today to testify,

I love you, bestie; I may not have said this many a times, but I mean every single syllable of it. I don’t know a simpler way to say this: I love you with all what I am, for all what you are.

Naduni's Wedding Ceremony | January 2020

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Note: The toast made at my long-standing best friend Naduni Wanigasinghe's wedding on January 31, 2020. Reposted in celebration of her first wedding anniversary.