A Mothers Day Poem

Qasim wrote this poem, titled "My Mother"....I don't remember what year it was, but he was in middle school when he wrote it.

There is no other touch of that like a mother.

My mother's hands held me when I cried as a baby.

My Mother's hand showed me how to put on the TV when I was curious.

My mother's hand taught me how to count with my fingers.

My mother's hands hug me when I am mad.

My mother's hands give me a high-five when I do something good.

My mother's hands tuck me in at night to keep me safe.

My mother's hand gives me $10 when I do well in school.

My mother's hands are with me when I make a tough choice.

There is no other touch like that of a mother.

Happy Mothers Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you!

By: Qasim

Your oldest son.

Facebook

Qasim and his chinstrap.

Qasim loved his Facebook. Under basic information about himself, he had written the following:

Q...nuff said.

Running, always running. That's when and where you will find me. Keep on running.

We put the nuff said one as a quote from him, on his headstone. I wanted his own words to be on the headstone.

He also had other quotes on fb, he had listed the sources, but I am foregoing that (for the simple reason that I am being lazy).

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

"In life and on the pitch (field) 'The first touch is the ultimate touch.'" This is a quote from Q's soccer coach, Coach Tony.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

"Winning isn't everything, but wanting to is."

"It takes years to build up trust, but you can lose it in a second." I had said this to him whenever he was caught telling a half-truth (the beauty of Q was that he would never lie, but would conveniently omit information!). Man, I never realized that he had written it on fb!!! You still surprise me Qasim.

"If it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger."

"I do not win beacuse I am the biggest or the fastest or the strongest, but I win because I have a reason worth fighting for."

"Your birth is a mistake you'll spend your whole life trying to correct."

"Honestly, we don't procrastinate...we just work very well under pressure."

Qasim's Last Thanksgiving

Qasim was very close to one of his Sunday school teachers. He had a lot of respect for her, and would sometimes even quote her! She was very influential in his life, especially the last two years. She was kind enough to share a few writings of Qasims that she had. Today I wanted to share an email he had sent her on Thursday, November 26,2009, his last Thanksgiving Day. You know, the funny thing about Q was that he would do or say things to others and wouldn't even tell us! That was Qasim...

ASA Fatima Bahji!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I would like to take this time to thank you for everything that you have helped me with over the last year and a half or so. I greatly enjoy your advice and hope to continue getting it! Inshallah I will see you Saturday morning for Eid prayers. Have fun today and if you're traveling, please be safe!
-Qasim

Dear Rachel

I found this assignment of Qasim's in the folder where he kept some of his work. It is dated December 11, 2008. It is apparently a letter he had to write in school for Rachel's Challenge.

Dear Rachel,
Hearing your story was very inspiring. In my letter I will explain how I plan to be an agent of change and what I want my legacy to be. I will enjoy being a better person.
How will I become an agent of change? I will be nicer to people I usually am not nice to. I will help people when they seek it. I will treat people the way I want to be treated.
What will my legacy be? I want to leave a legacy from everywhere I come from. When I leave Pond Road Middle School I want to have the school record in the mile and half mile. And an undefeated JV season and a near perfect Varsity season. In the next part of my life, I want to be known as a smart, intelligent, outgoing person.
I ACCEPT RACHEL'S CHALLENGE!
Sincerely,
Q Muzaffar

Sometimes Pictures Are Better Than Words

I saw this picture, and it seemd to scream out at me "this is what Qasim's blog is about....use me!"(Yes, this is what my life has been reduced to...brief hallucinations where images from the computer "talk" to me). :)

I hope that when you read Qasim's words, you will feel as if you are being embraced by him. That you will feel he is not gone, but still here, just on a different plane of existence that our weak and limited human eyes cannot see. That you will acknowledge him by smiling up at the brilliant stars in the night sky, and living each day to the fullest. For me personally, his legacy is to live life to the fullest, to love life and all the mysteries it holds, and to never give up. Tough things happen in life; we find ourselves in situations that are beyond our worst nightmare...but Qasim taught  me to never give up. He persisted in what he wanted, however challenging or impossible the situation may seem.

So, as the saying goes...live, laugh, love, and eat (yes, I added the last part...thought Q would appreciate that!).