Our friendship is 30 years old this Fall, my longest. We met during our first year of high school and never looked back.

I spent the better part of this day with Cleo; in the Fall of 2018, hers was one of the few places to which I would go, because there were so few places I actually felt safe. While inside, I slowly came to realize just how at home I am in her space, and with her family. I’ve watched Nora-May and Trent grow into incredibly well-mannered young adults who, though they aren’t Muslim, they meet the definition of the Islamic term addab – they have and behave with integrity, and principles. They understand the meaning of ‘character’, and they have been taught that there is indeed a right and a wrong, and for both there are consequences. Most important, they have been raised with the knowledge and awareness that their actions and behaviour must account for the well-being of others.

Because this is who Cleo is, and these are the values which she instills in her children. Always, she has reminded me of my own momma, both in heart and spirit. No wonder our friendship has spanned 30 years and only grows stronger, alhamduliLah.

(Dane, her husband, is one of the funniest men I have ever met. Like, proper laugh out loud hilarious, always.)

When considering the measure of friendship, and though I don’t have children of my own, I’ve always asked Would you trust them to give advice to your kid?

Not only would I trust Cleo to give the best advice to them, but equally I would trust her to raise them. And this? There are extremely few humans to whom I would pay such compliment.

Today, I am grateful for:
1. The first official heatwave of the year. It’s finally summer, y’all! I am excited for the humidity to wrap itself around my curls.
2. Watermelon. ‘Tis the season. And I can live on the combination that is watermelon, and feta cheese wrapped in pita bread
3. Karooma, with whom baba and me had dinner this evening. Though it was a short run, I had missed my little brother and was so happy to see him tonight.

Ottawa | June 6, 2019

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