To Gregory Pegory Pooh, from your
belovedsister-in-law,Padma
Thiswill not be a piecewhere I wax lyrical.
I am saving the best for last (nudge, nudge
wink, wink), when I will try to do justice to
your life and times. I know that while you
won’t be with us physically then, you will
be listeningwith your spiritual ears. These
thoughts below are just some littlepersonal
bits, which won’t make the final cut, so to
speak, because they are sopersonal and itty
bitty. Buttheystill saymuchaboutwhatyou
havemeant inmy life.
I marvel at the way someone who was not
short of an opinion or two, or of letting
peopleknow them, couldsohumblehimself
to accept as unreservedly as you did, the
truth of Baha’u’llah when you came upon
His teachings.
I am chuffed by the way you allowed-nay
welcomed-me into thechoir,when Icannot
sing for peanuts, thenmade like Imattered
.
I love theway you acceptedour crazy, loud,
opinionated, chaotic familywithunreserved
affection. You were always the one we
turned to at a birthday, anniversary, to say
something meaningful about the person.
This was not just because you were never
short of a word or two. But more because
we knew youwould have something loving
andmeaningful to sayabout anyoneofus.
I amhumbledby theway youwould always
find time to help us, despite the ridiculous
workload you carried, and the non-stop
way youwere serving. Youwere there and
putting in the hard yakka everytime we
moved house. You spent hours and hours
helpingme to put the visual touches tomy
talks andpresentations (I got thecredit, you
didthework-hahaha-butIdidacknowledge
you, promise).
Irememberwithamazementhowyouwould
beour go-toguyduring theSundayevening
Collis talks at the Baha’i Centre when a
speaker couldn’tmake it. Wewouldcall you
halfanhourbeforethestart,youwoulddrop
everythingandget there (nodoubtbreaking
every speed limit), askingmewhat the topic
of the eveningwas as youwalked up to the
stage to speak!!
And now to the present: You have taken
your friends and family- and the whole
Baha’i community-and the seekers who
circle around, thirsting for spirituality-on
your journey as you face your final hurdle.
Death is something we usually, alas, put
into the darkplaces reserved forwords that
