Our Organized Shahdi

Recently, I was in search of a new backpack for an upcoming trip and before venturing out to the stores, I looked for an abandoned one around the house. While looking, I found one of Shahdi's old backpacks in our room, and at first glance, it looked almost new and perfect for my needs. The backpack incorporated both black and sky blue in its color scheme and was a remnant from Shahdi's middle-school days. I got very excited finding it and thought it would be the closest to having Shahdi with me on this trip. Unfortunately, at closer inspection, I noticed that one of the straps had lost its buckle and was not as easily adjustable. Thus, I ended up purchasing a new black one, similar to Shahdi's last backpack; the one she had embellished with a big shiny red bow on its front pocket which had been her constant companion wherever she went in the last three years of her life. Her backpack was laid next to her feet in her coffin, containing her makeup bag, hair brush and her other small personal belongings. We did not want to separate her from her favorite companion. I wish Shahdi were alive to make me a pretty bow to put on my new backpack.

In the last two years of her life, Shahdi did a lot of travelling. She inherently was a very organized person. When she was younger, Shahdi was always the first one to pack her suitcase in anticipation of a trip, sometimes as early as a week prior to the actual departure day! Her suitcase always looked very organized and orderly. Even if she was in a hurry to pack, she still made sure to fold everything neatly, to tape up the dispensing heads of all the bottles and put them in Ziploc bags, to use the space in the suitcase efficiently and put the items in the suitcase in a specific order. She must have inherited this characteristic for tidiness and order from my father.

She passed away a couple of weeks after returning home from her last trip and we still have not had the heart to unpack her suitcases. Maybe someday in the future, but not yet. It would take a lot of emotional strength to unzip her suitcases and face all the objects that are now orphaned. My father has always advised me to enjoy what I have and to remember that material possessions belong to this world only, and not to any individual, no matter how powerful and wealthy they are. There is a Persian proverb that he always quotes, "Mal-e donya, mal-e donyast." That is so true. The contents of the two suitcases that Shahdi left behind were hers but she was unable to take any of them with her. This rule will apply to all of us. Therefore, I suppose, the moral of this sad story is that one should not put much importance and weight on the material objects in life, but on non-tangible items such as love, family, friendship, kindness, and enjoying life itself. All that truly matter are the happy experiences that will last in our memories, not the shoes, clothes, cars, houses or other objects that we have owned over our lifetime.

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