Thankful for my angel godmother in the world. May her soul rest in eternal peace !

I generally don't feel comfortable posting personal stuff on Social media, let alone on a professional networking site like Linkedin, but this is an exception, I am going to make, as I reflect on a recent tragic event in my life, which connects my past, present and future on this day of thanksgiving in 2022 !

1 month ago (on Oct 22, 2022) my godmother angel aunty, Mrs. Hamida Mistry, who raised me, unexpectedly passed away. The only silver lining was, my cousin sister who was very close to her and I were lucky to be with her in person, final few days of her life, as if god had planned our trips, to wish her goodbye on her journey to heaven ! It doesn't make my pain or loss any less, but the thought helps brings some peace to me.

She was, is, and will be my role model, all my life. She was an amazing strong, compassionate, caring women who went out of her way to help everyone not only in our extended family, but also the entire community, all her life.

She may not even have earned her bachelor's degree (as it was rare for women in her days to get higher education due to family and financial constraints), nevertheless, she was very well educated through self learning, had an amazing command of English language, knowledge and self confidence to communicate with anyone from any walks of life on any topic.

Few valuable lessons I have learned from her life, which I will try to inculcate in my own life (and hopefully my kids' s lives) are:

1. Steadfast faith She was a women of deep faith, deeply rooted in god and saw all humans as children of god. Helping others, came naturally to her, as, she strongly believed, it was her responsibility to help everyone around her, no matter how much inconvenience (or pain in some cases) it would cause to her.
2. You don't need to be rich to help others, you just need to have a big heart One of the most amazing gift all my life was to watch her be so generous with her time, money, knowledge & sacrificing her life for others regularly. She was a living example of the phrase, "You don't need to be rich to help others, you just need to have a big heart". In addition to raising two of her sons, she raised me and 2 of our distant cousins, whose mom died when she was very young. The 2 cousins (approximately 7 and 3 years old), she brought back home from attending a funeral trip; she was so moved, that she knew she had to do something to help them ! God bless her for raising all 5 boys, loving everyone equally and changing the trajectory of our future generations !
3. Leadership & Self discipline/self regulation are interconnected She served as the girl scouts leader in our community, and led many volunteer organizations for the last few decades. She role modeled amazing leadership skills, discipline and self regulation. She was able to influence hundreds of kids' and young adults through her role modeling, mentoring and guidance in these roles.
4. Life is like a wheel, smile and live to its best Sometimes a spoke is up, other times it is down (using a bicycle analogy). Even on her deathbed, in the final few days, she was very much at peace with what was happening, remained thankful to God, doctors, extended family and she was imparting her blessings and wisdom to those around her. Her final life lesson being, life has ups and downs, do not worry or let is impact you adversely. Go on and live life !
5. Do as much good in the world for everyone without expecting anything in return. I would not even been 20% as successful as today, if it was not for her mentoring and raising me. Yet she never asked for anything in return, and wouldn't even accept gifts from me when I would visit her. All she would say is, she is happy that I am settled down in life and my immediate family members (wife and kids) are happy. What a selfless, rare and a generous soul !!!
6. Practice charity, but, in private She helped many people in financial need, throughout her life both with money, food and helping them personally during their personal/family/medical emergencies. Even the family didn't know most of this, until after she passed away and people came forward and shared stories of her generosity with the family.

This thanksgiving, will be the first one in a long time, where I wouldn't be able to say thanks to her over the phone, or hear her voice (ever again). Wanted to pen down these thoughts as a way to express my gratitude from bottom of my heart to her, and, praying for her everlasting peace for her soul. May god give all of us a small fraction of kindness, compassion, love and caring as her, so we all can do some good for others in our lives and make the world a better place ! Amen !!!