Sarah Malik Sayed wrote a personal story that was published in the New York Times' weekly Modern Love column in August 2024. It's the story of longing for a mother's love, which is no longer possible, yet hoping to find it in other people. Sarah's mother, Kaukab, died in her late twenties leaving behind two beautiful little daughters and her loving husband. This story takes us through Lahore, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, London, Calgary and Toronto, Canada. Letting go and trying not to blame herself for her mother's death are two life lessons that Sarah has wrestled with most of her life. Now she's a mother and has come to a peaceful resolution to her worries.
Sarah is a writer and this is the first time her work has been published in the New York Times. the link is below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/23/style/modern-love-looking-for-my-mother.html
This is an unusual love story where a Pakistani woman proposed to her lover which was culturally not the norm. They were both young and very much in love. Unfortunately, Kaukab, translated from Arabic, means "star" or "constellation" was diagnosed with Leukemia a few years after their daughter's were born. Sarah's parents went to London for a bone marrow transplant.
This was the beginning of tearing the family apart. The girls moved in with family members in Saudi Arabia, while their dad stayed in London.
Her father was distraught and couldn't even tell the girls that their mother had passed away until days later. They did not attend their mother's funeral, though they were close by. The family members blamed Sarah's father for Kaukab's death.
This and more lead to Sarah blaming herself for her mother's death. She believes that her mom was trying to teach her to let go, but either way Sarah has spent a good part of her life blaming herself for her mother's death.
Sarah has very few personal possessions to remember her mother by. She has a card that her mother wrote her when in the hospital, that she still has today. Her mother had hopes of seeing her girls again but fate had a different plan. And not too long ago, Sarah was able to bring home two embroideries that her mother had made, many years ago and they hang in Sarah's home today.
Sarah's relatives have told her, that her mother handled her illness very eloquently, she didn't give into despair and she accepted her illness and her death with grace.
My guest has plans for writing fiction, short stories, kids books and more.
TWITTER:https://x.com/SarayMaray