“When two hearts are meant for each other, no distance in a relationship is too far, no time is too long, and no other love can break them apart.”
Cecile and I want to express our heartfelt congratulations to our friend Maybelle on the marriage of her daughter Michelle (Hmu Ma Di) to Jason (Ye Myint Myat) who are getting married at Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in Mandalay, on the 5th of May with a reception to follow on the 7th of May at the Palace Restaurant where we all once ate together. Yes, you may have noticed that Maybelle’s daughter and soon to be son-in-law took English names like our daughter Michelle and son Jason. I still remember being invited to Maybelle’s home for the first time and seeing a sign with her daughter Michelle’s name painted on it. It is not uncommon to take on an English name, especially while studying English at the university.
I first met Maybelle, a devout Catholic and volunteer during my first spiritual pilgrimage to Mandalay to attend a three week silent meditation retreat at a Buddhist monastery overlooking the Great Irrawaddy River. It was through her that I was introduced to two Irish Catholic sisters of charity who received permission from their archdiocese to attend the same retreat I was attending. I attended said retreats over a five-year period beginning around 2004 to 2009. I had the pleasure of meeting Maybelle’s late husband Noah and I have known their daughter Michelle since she was six or eight years of age.
The only thing I knew about Mandalay at the time was a movie: "The Road to Mandalay" starting Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and that Rudyard Kipling wrote a Poem called Mandalay which was published in 1890 that was set in colonial Burma, then part of British India. Mandalay city is in north-central Myanmar (Burma) on the Irrawaddy River, the second largest city in the country and former capital of Burma and Upper Burma. It is famous for being the old royal capital of Myanmar. In the past, Burmese kings would have lived in the city and you can still see some of their palaces in evidence. The city still has a royal feel to it.
During a pre-trip tour of Southeast Asia including Thailand, Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam in 2018, Cecile and I visited Mandalay to spend time with Maybelle
and her Michelle and later her boyfriend Jason for dinner. Maybelle drove us to many of the best tourist sites and to the monastery so I could say hello to one of my most esteemed lay meditation teacher Michele Macdonald who was leading a retreat. Other than the beautiful pre-wedding photos, most of the images were taken during our stay in Mandalay and on the grounds of the Thai Style Mercure Mandalay Hill Resort Cecile and I stayed at and highly recommended by Maybelle.
Michelle, who was recently staying with Maybelle at their aunt’s home in Allentown, PA this past year, worked at Amazon and is well liked by her co-workers. She and Jason intend to move to the United States. Since the military coup in Myanmar over a year ago there is no future there for young people. The government there has brutally cracked down on its citizens after massive protests by the Burmese people, losing any progress that was being made toward quasi-democratic rule.
May your marriage give you endless tenderness, love, joy and unforgettable moments together.
Peace, love, and many blessings,
Dennis and Cecile
