Every year for the past 22 years, Michael has always given Jamie a bouquet of flowers on their wedding anniversary – though this year was no different in that aspect, Jamie pointed out that there actually was one thing different from previous years: “In the past, every year of our wedding anniversary, we would have a celebratory dinner with a few of our close ‘couple’ friends in HK, however this year, we celebrated with a group of young friends in Xiamen. Actually, Michael is pretty good about remembering our anniversary every year – but even if he were to forget, I would surely ‘remind’ him! Like this year for example – one night, on impulse, I wrote the number ‘22’ on a piece of paper and handed it to him with the intention of ‘reminding’ him about our 22nd wedding anniversary. He took one look at the paper and asked me ‘What?’ – then he turned the paper over, looked at it, and asked me again ‘What?’ When he saw me smiling without answering, he then said: ‘Oh! Hey, I remember – you don’t need to remind me!’ See, Michael never forgets our anniversary!” Asked whether she purposefully flew to Xiamen to celebrate with Michael, Jamie replied: “In HK, I don’t have any work obligations currently and there isn’t anyone to keep me company anyway, so I figured why not go to Xiamen and take care of Michael – plus it’s a way of enjoying life!”
Even though they have already been married for 22 years, Michael and Jamie’s deep affection and love for one another is akin to that of a newlywed couple. Towards this, Jamie expressed that their relationship really isn’t much different from ordinary couples – when they were young, they would argue a lot, but after being together for so long, they grew to understand that the key to a lasting relationship involves mutually accommodating one another, being tolerant and accepting of one another, and also respect: “During our youth, when we were dating, we worked together and we also managed a business together. Now our kids [TN: daughter Phoebe is 20 and son Murphy is 18] are all grown up and continuing their schooling abroad, so all that’s left is the two of us to keep each other company. We rely on each other mutually, as we will be accompanying each other on the long road ahead and into the future.”
In their 30 years together, Michael and Jamie have never run out of things to talk about. Towards this, Jamie smiled and expressed that because she and Michael talk about everything under the sun -- even pointless, silly things – they never have to worry about growing distant from each other: “Some married couples who’ve been together for a long time end up running out of things to say to each other – after all, being together for so many years, you’ve pretty much said everything you want to say – so it’s no surprise that the relationship eventually grows distant. But Michael and I are different in that we talk about everything, even unimportant silly things – even with things like TV series and movies, we could go on and on about it! Actually, I feel that this helps to enliven and enhance our relationship as a married couple.”
Currently, Michael is rushing to complete his work in the Mainland and it is anticipated that filming will wrap prior to Chinese New Year. After that, the couple has plans for a trip to the U.S. and Canada to visit their children and will return to HK after the CNY holiday.
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