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The bubble of family

Dear Fatima

Writing to you is essential because one day you will grow up and wonder what we did during your earliest years. The writing won't be perfect. More often than not it will be stream of consciousness. I write to you as you sleep, with your father's steady snoring is in the background-- making me very sleepy too!

Our care ecosystem consists of many people. This post will share a little bit more about the incredible people who are part of your care team.

Your dada and dadi watch you almost every other day, while also maintaining 4 businesses. Your dadi lights up whenever she sees you and so do you. She has consistently been there from the day you were born, visiting 2 times a week while also completing her job at Merck. She declined a manager opportunity so she could be with you. And what's more she has consistently denied the manager job because she has always prioritized her family. What you value is what you spend most of your time doing. Your dada (grandpa) said simply, "This is the best time of our lives"--referring to this stage of being grandparents. He brings food for you all the time, and has bought us this house near his house so we can be close Your dada is my hero and also one of my biggest supporters.

Your Wasim Chachu is the fun uncle. He posts pictures of you on Snapchat despite my asking him not to, and he plays with you. He knows multiple languages, and will hopefully tutor you in some other languages. As he is still finishing up his PhD at Princeton University, I hope he can teach you good studying and writing skills, as he is probably the most brilliant person in our family.

Your Saadat Mamu is a senior Quality Engineer at BD, an international company. He works and lives independently in his very sleek apartment in North Jersey.  He came recently to our house and built you your doll house, and has come to take you to the gym. Once time, we even got a ride in his red 2017 BMW to visit your Nana and Nani.

Your Nana loves to play with you and is filled with such happiness when he sees you. He does not visit that often and is very busy with his work, but when he comes, he spends the day with us, and likes to take naps! He is aging much faster than many of us because of his traumatic childhood. He lost his father when he was 1 years old, and he grew up in a single-mother home, with no income but by God's grace he was the first to finish university, and the first to come to America. He started his first business when he was a teenager, and managed to win contracts with an Italian company. He is brilliant and I am most proud of my father, your Nana.

Your Nani has been waiting for you for almost 8 -9 years. When you were born, she was with me the entire night. She knit a beautiful pink blanket for you by hand, and keeps buying you gold. I do not know where a lot of that jewelry is--sadly--but your Nani likes to dress you in frilly dresses. She threw you an INCREDIBLE first birthday party, with a 3 tiered cake, and 100 people came. She had gotten you a beautiful dress, dressed me up professionally and had arranged for hair and makeup for me and her. You nani is incredibly fast, and put together a party for 100 people in less than 5 days. I will forever be grateful to your nani for her unconditional love-- which sometimes I cannot tell if it's unconditional--but for always making the impossible happen.

Perhaps the most consistent and most significant person is our nanny, Shabana Auntie. We met her through one of dad's businesses-- she was a customer to the star pharmacy I think. She is a kind, loving, and sweet woman who watches you, plays with you, feeds you, and cares for you from 730 to 5 every single day. She is an angel and I ask God to keep her healthy, happy always. She loves you, and says that taking care of Fatima is the only job she would ever do because she loves you. She cooks your food and makes my messy house clean every day so that it is safe for you. She has been with us since you were 8 months old.

Well Fatima, your circle of love consists of many people. Your father is at the center, for him we will write a special post. Here's a picture of you at the little gym, playing with bubbles. May the bubble of family keep you full of light and wonder, as in this picture.




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