They say when a loved one passes away, it's the little things that stay with you in your memory; with Soraya Serajeddini, or as we would call her, Suri gyan, there were so many of those little things. The most recent were two, her smile and sweet smell. Suri gyan stayed at our home about one month before she passed. I was away for work and she stayed in my bedroom those nights. When I got home early one evening, everyone was sitting around the dinner table talking about politics and the latest happenings in Kurdistan. As usual, she began talking to me about what I was up to and what my plans were for the future. Every time she spoke to you, Suri gyan had a way of making you feel like you were the most important person in the room and that you could accomplish anything you wanted to. After a while of chatting, I went to my bedroom and put my stuff away and noticed such a pleasant smell in my room; it was that sweet smell that would instantly remind me of her, and after she left, I did not want to change the guest sheets on my bed because it would remind me of her and all the fond memories we had together.

Not once did I ever see Suri gyan angry or upset at anyone. She was always so full of life and loved everyone around her so much. She managed to hold our family together with dinner parties, a family website she put together, picnics and all types of activities for the younger kids in the family. I remember everything from having ice cream with berries at her house as a child, to trying on her beautiful Kurdish clothes, and even going with her husband, Tom, to Kurdish school in the blue Celica. I remember the activities she would plan for all of us kids in the family like the pumpkin carving contests at her home to our camping trips at Kings Canyon; I never even liked camping but she told us how important those trips were to be with the family and all the other Kurds who traveled from different cities to be there. I remember when she had kids of her own, Aveen and Daryan, and trusted me to babysit them when she needed me to. These are all the memories that were given to me by her. Without her, they would have never existed. I could never thank her enough for that.

Suri gyan was a great Kurdish activist, a loving wife and mother, and one of the most precious and caring people a family could ever be blessed with. Such an untimely loss this is for all friends, family and for Kurdistan. We were blessed to have had her in our lives; however, a piece of us will always ache now that she is gone...

I see an old photograph and see your smile As I feel your presence anew, I am filled with warmth and my heart remembers love I remember who used to be And the laughter and thoughts your shared And wonder what you have become... Where are you now? Where did you go? When the body is left behind, is the spirit is released to fly? Perhaps you are the morning bird flying over Kurdistan? Or the butterfly that dances, so carelessly on the breeze? Or the rainbow of colors that brighten a stormy sky? Or the fingers of afternoon mist, delicately reaching over the mountains? You are the few rays of the setting sun lighting up the skies, edging the clouds with a magic glow... I miss your being, but I feel your presence In whatever form you choose to be However you choose to be... Your spirit has become for me a guardian angel in the sky I will always remember you For you will always be here with me... - Kirsti A. Dyer, MD, MS (modified by N. Sadjadi)