Catpaw - diary of an angry cat

Sometimes life hands you a terrible burden.

Each of us deals with it in our own fashion, often alone or, if you are lucky, with the support of a close knit family. But every once in awhile, tragedy befalls a family in a horribly public fashion. Suddenly there is no private grief.

That happened last week here in Toronto.

Today looks bright and sunny - a perfect spring day. Good day for an outing, but I’m sure Quaiss and Hossy Shahghasy aren’t thinking today will be a good day for a double funeral.

You see, they are burying their parents today. Rahimullah and Nazifa came to Canada from Afghanistan 20 years ago and made a good life for themselves in this urban sprawl of a city. They worked hard to live the Canadian dream and give their two children a good life. By all accounts, after all these years, Rahimullah and Nazifa were still in love.

But it all ended on April 30 when a stranger came out of nowhere and began stabbing Nafiza with a 9 inch long knife. Rahimullah tried to come to his wife’s rescue but was in turn stabbed to death in the parking lot of a strip mall near their home. Neither knew their attacker. The only thing that mattered to Rahimullah was his wife’s safety, not the identity of their attacker.

They left behind 2 children, Quaiss, 21, and Hossy, 19, who must now shoulder this burden. It is hard to lose a parent, but to lose both in such an horrific fashion will leave nightmares for a long time to come.

How many of us are prepared for death? I’m sure Rahimullah and Nazifa weren’t when they went to run errands on that cold, rainy day. Now that they have died, their children are faced with huge problems. Turns out Rahimullah was recovering from a stroke, that had left him unable to work for most of the past year. They were surviving on Nafiza’s wages. Most of their savings were wiped out by the illness. And sadly, neither left a will or insurance - how many of us are guilty of that? Too many I’m afraid. So the children are stuck in a horrible limbo - no income, and now trying to settle an estate with no wills, while hanging onto the home.

It looks as though they may lose their home now, although the oldest Quaiss is working - one young man’s income will not be enough. Remember they are now saddled with debts from burying their parents - one funeral can be crippling, imagine how high the debt will be from 2. The daughter Hossy is in college and faces the prospect of dropping out and immediately getting a job. She may not be able to afford the luxury of an education now.

All too often, the only thing we can do is sit on the sidelines and shake our heads, or drop flowers off at the site of the tragedy. Maybe this once a few of us can make a small difference in this world. Members of the Shahghasy family have set up a small website asking for donations to help Rahimullah and Nazifa’s children out. Yes, I know they are now legally adults, therefore responsible for themselves. But they are not starting out their lives on an even playing field and sometimes it does the urban soul a lot of good to lend a hand, even if it’s a small one. Go to the website Shahghasy Fund and see if you can be a hero. They were good Canadians, good citizens. Now their children need a bit of help from more good citizens.

For more information on this terrible event check out these links:
Toronto Star
Globe and Mail
UPI

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