Last week we had an assembly to honor a former student at our school. Aisha was unusual in that she was doing her best to live as close to a normal teenage life while battling SCID (sever combined immune deficiency) and pulmonary fibrosis which had reduced her oxygen intake to 20% of what a normal person would receive. Despite this she was a overwhelmingly positive person who tried to overcome her terminal illness. My first year at here she was enrolled in art and math class; which she attended as frequently as her health would allow. By last year it was intermittent meetings with her beloved art teacher. At graduation last year she gathered her strength to walk across the stage and receive a certificate of attendance with the class that she would have graduated with if it had been possible. She struggled on a daily basis, fighting for more time in the world. Loving art and her dogs. Finding moments to smile about. In fact she presented on just that idea during two TED Ink talks (you can see here and here). Just a few days before she passed on a book of her musing and artwork was published and premiered at the Jaipur Literature Festival on the day of her death. A few of my favorite quotes are the following:
Some words are worth gold.Say them while you still can.Say sorry.Say I forgive you.Say thank you.Say you are welcome.Say I love you.Say I love you too.
-Aisha Chaudhary
Having lost something so big has taught me to appreciate the littlest things. I am blessed that I have my eyes to see teh vividness in the green trees. I am blessed to have my sense of smell, so I can inhale (pun intended) that particular musty stink that hangs over Delhi after a day of rain. I am blesses to have my ears, so I can listen tot he sound of my mother's laughter. I am blessed to have my lips, so I can speak to those I love. I am blessed to have my hands, so I can pain whenever I please. I am blessed to have my legs, so I can still walk on this earth. I must remember that I am blessed.
-Aisha Chaudhary
