Shafiqa Wali

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to Shafiqa Wali, our dear mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. She was an incredible force in our lives and in the lives of those she loved. She survived typhoid as a child, the death of her father at age nine, war in her homeland, imprisonment by communists, the untimely loss of her most beloved daughter, breast cancer, quadruple bypass surgery, Myelodysplastic syndrome, spinal stenosis, severe hearing loss—and that’s just the short list. Some may read this and say she lived a tragic life. But they are wrong. Our grande dame was a survivor, a prized fighter, bravely bloodied and bruised in the fight of life. She was the Woman in the Arena, an Iron Lady who fought valiantly, knew great enthusiasms and had tremendous humor. Her charisma remained undefeated until the very end and her loving personality unconquerable. Like all human beings, she may have had her flaws, but she never lacked guts or originality. She was the true embodiment of a courageous Afghan matriarch, and we imagine that thunder roared and lightning burst into an illuminating spotlight as she entered gallantly into the Kingdom of Heaven to surrender her trophied spirit. As her family, we stand here in ovation, cheering for our beautiful champion.