After a quick “google” on the web, I realize that our forthcoming wedding anniversary at the weekend is so-called Bismuth in British terms (maybe Chinese too, who knows?) and what I find about this element is quite interesting:

Bismuth is a chemical element that has the atomic number 83. Of all the metals, it is the most naturally diamagnetic, and only mercury has a lower thermal conductivity. Bismuth compounds are used in cosmetics and medical procedures.

It has been 25 years since my other half and I first met on the university campus in Beijing. In a way,  we could pretend this one as our “Silver Anniversary” if we counted all the years from then, knowing that in the old Chinese society, couples only met each other on their wedding days!

The Silver Wedding Anniversary is considered to be the first of the major wedding anniversaries. The flowers associated with the 25th anniversary are Iris. The Gemstone list shows Sterling Silver associated with this Wedding Anniversary.

Well, this does sound more interesting than our official anniversary, doesn’t it? Talking about marriage, we are both strong supporters of traditional values, such as family duties and parents’ responsibilities. Yet we have to admit that the society is changing fast around us. For example, our English friends, the couple living next door are celebrating their Gold (50th) Wedding Anniversary this year, yet half of their children have divorced at least once. This is not what we or they like to see but it is the reality of what the society has become.

I guess at the end of day, the question is what an individual wants and which path of life s/he chooses to walk along - a happy marriage or else?

Other interesting info about wedding anniversaries can be found at:

http://www.anniversaryideas.co.uk/wedding.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_anniversary

 相关博文：

 The 29th of February 2008 (where you can also see the table of Wedding Anniversaries if you cannot get to the second link at the end of this article.)