Celebrating Her Life

Badrieh was a religious person. I wish I can say she influenced me, but she didn’t. I was influenced by my father who questioned everything. Her faith in God was deeply rooted in her heart. In her last days of forgetfulness, she would forget the people closest to her, but she never once forgot how to recite the Abana.

She believed in Jesus. She believed he was the son of God, and following his path will lead to salvation. As an atheist or agnostic, I didn't share her faith, although I fully acknowledge that, as a reformer, he did introduce some really nice values:
‘Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you’, 'whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them’, 'Honour your father and mother’, 'when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets to be honoured by others’

My mother applied all that to her life. She was a very loving person. She loved everybody she knew, and they all loved her back. She didn't know how to hate the people who hurt her, and believe me, she was hurt by a lot by the people she trusted. She was very generous towards her children. She gave without expecting anything back. She honoured her parents regardless of their flaws. So, in a way, she was a true follower of Jesus.

I didn’t have a real problem with her being religious. It was her way of coping with the hardships of life. She lost her husband after a lifetime of companionship. She believed he was in heaven waiting for her. She believed that her parents, brothers, and sisters were also in heaven. That’s a good thing when you have nothing else to hold on to.

Whether religious or not, when you leave this world, you need to worry about one thing only: how people will remember you. My mother was a very loving, kind, giving, and caring person, and she will be remembered as such.

- Bob Ayoub -