Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Eulogy for the Beloved Ezat Sanjar
Eulogy for Ezat Sanjar - Angels carried my beautiful grandmother up to the heavens at 7:30 a.m. on November 4, 2010. She died peacefully in her sleep with her children around her. She was 92 years old.
This Eulogy was given by me on Monday, November 8, 2010 during her funeral services.
******************
Our Maman had a Zest for life – A “Joie de Vivre” that was contagious – She was always up for fun and excitement. You could wake her up at 2 a.m. and tell her there is a party do you want to go? And she’d say “Let’s go!”
The Jewel that was always ready to celebrate life and take from it as much as she could.
She even danced until the last moments of her life. That is truly having a Joy for life! Her joy in living simply made life beautiful to everyone around her.
Maman was the matriarch of our family. All the main events of our lives as a family would go back to her and bounce off of her. She defined so many key family events, she shaped so many of us. Shaped so many lives. Shaped so many events. I would say she was a true force. Showing us her will and determination. Some of it was done quietly and gently – and some of it not always quietly but always diplomatically.
My fondest memory of Maman is how in Mashhad she would put us to bed. Oh my god! What lucky children we were! She would have these great beds laid out in the yard for each of us and as we were crawling into them they had been cooled by the lovely Mashhad air. We would look up into the vast indigo night and the tiny but abundant stars up above and wiggle and get all comfortable. Getting ready for her to tell us her stories.
She was a most gifted story teller and a grand actress as she recited stories called Naranj & toranj or Amir Arsalan the Brave! She had us mesmerized and recited these adventures which literally went on for weeks!
To this day I have not experienced anything better than those innocent nights under the starry sky and falling asleep to the sweet cadence of her voice. What a gift those memories are! Thank you maman jon. Thank you! Thank you for spending all those nights to put us to bed. Thank you for being that story teller in my life and through your words and actions for teaching me the art of reading and the love of reading. That alone has been one of the most tremendous gifts I’ve ever received in my life. And I owe it all to you.
I’m grateful, that we, her children are all here because Baba fell in love with her. That is anoth
er story that I loved hearing from Baba. How she was squatting by the small pool in the back of the house and brushing her long thick lovely hair and Baba secretly peeking at her and thinking he must marry the beautiful Ezat.
He was hopelessly in love and had to have her. It’s even more romantic when I tell you that he remained in love with her until his last days and when he passed on she was right there beside him to the very end of their days together. She was a good wife to him and he was a loving husband to her.
Together they had 5 amazing daughters who in turn gave them the best grandchildren and she was finally blessed to even see her great grandchildren. How wonderful is that? I am here because a lovesick young man fell in love with a feisty beauty. Again, how wonderful is that?
I remember as a mother she was fierce. Cyrus used to say in a voice full of awe that mammon is a lioness & you better not mess with her when it comes to her kids. And he was right. She loved her children.
She taught each of her daughters something that defined them and carried them through life. She taught them to have strength and that it can come from many places such as happiness, fearlessness, bravery, anger, from within & from friends, family, from not giving up and persevering.
She had a poetic and philosophical mind. To have a glimpse into her brilliant thoughts, just think of the names she gave her children. Homa, Forough, Nushin, Farzaneh and Mitra. To each she gave a poetic name and a wish she had wanted to be fulfilled in her own life and the life of her children. Names that were uncommon among Iranian women at the time. Each a symbol of the philosophies she believed in.
I know that I say and believe she had a good life but she also experienced great tragedies in her life. And that is truly the test of one’s mettle. Those tragedies are what proved that she is a great woman indeed.
She lost her mother when she was but a child, lived through two world wars, a revolution, had to change her country, leave her lovely home and friends to live in a foreign land with no knowledge of that language, at one point due to war she couldn’t nurse one of her children and had to face the possibility of losing her child. She lost her eyesight in the latter years of her life and I know that was a difficult struggle for her as she’d cry over her inability to read. I also know it bothered her that she could no longer see the physical changes in her children.
Therefore, she was no stranger to loss. She lost infants to death, her husband left her side too soon, she lost a vivacious and beautiful young daughter to a rare disease and a much beloved grandson whom she loved as her own.
However, she went on and by her quiet grace and elegant actions she showed us that life is to be lived. Anyone who knew her and knew of the kind of life she had led marveled at her strength, at her loveliness. She was always gentle, a lady and never harsh even though if she had wanted she had earned the right through her trials in life to at least be bitter at times. But we never saw that in her. She was all strength and always a true matriarch and leader.
My Maman, My beautiful beloved grandma. What shall we do without you? We’ll miss you. We’ll miss your kind eyes, you sweet smile, your soft white hair, your gentleness, your will, your devotion, your joyfulness, your judgement, your wisdom, your sharp mind, your knowledge, you advice, your mothering, your grandmothering and your love for life and your love for us all. So many things to miss about you Mamon. SO. Many. Things…
I think my son Bijan said it best. He said, “Maman meant something different to each of us but she was the light in the family for all of us.”
Goodbye dearest maman. We already miss you and one day I’ll see you once again but this time on the other side!
This Eulogy was given by me on Monday, November 8, 2010 during her funeral services.
Our Maman had a Zest for life – A “Joie de Vivre” that was contagious – She was always up for fun and excitement. You could wake her up at 2 a.m. and tell her there is a party do you want to go? And she’d say “Let’s go!”
The Jewel that was always ready to celebrate life and take from it as much as she could.
She even danced until the last moments of her life. That is truly having a Joy for life! Her joy in living simply made life beautiful to everyone around her.
Maman was the matriarch of our family. All the main events of our lives as a family would go back to her and bounce off of her. She defined so many key family events, she shaped so many of us. Shaped so many lives. Shaped so many events. I would say she was a true force. Showing us her will and determination. Some of it was done quietly and gently – and some of it not always quietly but always diplomatically.
My fondest memory of Maman is how in Mashhad she would put us to bed. Oh my god! What lucky children we were! She would have these great beds laid out in the yard for each of us and as we were crawling into them they had been cooled by the lovely Mashhad air. We would look up into the vast indigo night and the tiny but abundant stars up above and wiggle and get all comfortable. Getting ready for her to tell us her stories.
She was a most gifted story teller and a grand actress as she recited stories called Naranj & toranj or Amir Arsalan the Brave! She had us mesmerized and recited these adventures which literally went on for weeks!
To this day I have not experienced anything better than those innocent nights under the starry sky and falling asleep to the sweet cadence of her voice. What a gift those memories are! Thank you maman jon. Thank you! Thank you for spending all those nights to put us to bed. Thank you for being that story teller in my life and through your words and actions for teaching me the art of reading and the love of reading. That alone has been one of the most tremendous gifts I’ve ever received in my life. And I owe it all to you.
I’m grateful, that we, her children are all here because Baba fell in love with her. That is anoth
er story that I loved hearing from Baba. How she was squatting by the small pool in the back of the house and brushing her long thick lovely hair and Baba secretly peeking at her and thinking he must marry the beautiful Ezat.
He was hopelessly in love and had to have her. It’s even more romantic when I tell you that he remained in love with her until his last days and when he passed on she was right there beside him to the very end of their days together. She was a good wife to him and he was a loving husband to her.
Together they had 5 amazing daughters who in turn gave them the best grandchildren and she was finally blessed to even see her great grandchildren. How wonderful is that? I am here because a lovesick young man fell in love with a feisty beauty. Again, how wonderful is that?
I remember as a mother she was fierce. Cyrus used to say in a voice full of awe that mammon is a lioness & you better not mess with her when it comes to her kids. And he was right. She loved her children.
She taught each of her daughters something that defined them and carried them through life. She taught them to have strength and that it can come from many places such as happiness, fearlessness, bravery, anger, from within & from friends, family, from not giving up and persevering.
She had a poetic and philosophical mind. To have a glimpse into her brilliant thoughts, just think of the names she gave her children. Homa, Forough, Nushin, Farzaneh and Mitra. To each she gave a poetic name and a wish she had wanted to be fulfilled in her own life and the life of her children. Names that were uncommon among Iranian women at the time. Each a symbol of the philosophies she believed in.
I know that I say and believe she had a good life but she also experienced great tragedies in her life. And that is truly the test of one’s mettle. Those tragedies are what proved that she is a great woman indeed.
She lost her mother when she was but a child, lived through two world wars, a revolution, had to change her country, leave her lovely home and friends to live in a foreign land with no knowledge of that language, at one point due to war she couldn’t nurse one of her children and had to face the possibility of losing her child. She lost her eyesight in the latter years of her life and I know that was a difficult struggle for her as she’d cry over her inability to read. I also know it bothered her that she could no longer see the physical changes in her children.
Therefore, she was no stranger to loss. She lost infants to death, her husband left her side too soon, she lost a vivacious and beautiful young daughter to a rare disease and a much beloved grandson whom she loved as her own.
However, she went on and by her quiet grace and elegant actions she showed us that life is to be lived. Anyone who knew her and knew of the kind of life she had led marveled at her strength, at her loveliness. She was always gentle, a lady and never harsh even though if she had wanted she had earned the right through her trials in life to at least be bitter at times. But we never saw that in her. She was all strength and always a true matriarch and leader.
My Maman, My beautiful beloved grandma. What shall we do without you? We’ll miss you. We’ll miss your kind eyes, you sweet smile, your soft white hair, your gentleness, your will, your devotion, your joyfulness, your judgement, your wisdom, your sharp mind, your knowledge, you advice, your mothering, your grandmothering and your love for life and your love for us all. So many things to miss about you Mamon. SO. Many. Things…
I think my son Bijan said it best. He said, “Maman meant something different to each of us but she was the light in the family for all of us.”
Goodbye dearest maman. We already miss you and one day I’ll see you once again but this time on the other side!
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