I’ve tried many times in the last few weeks to write about an utterly tragic incident in my personal life, but I found myself speechless every time. I lost one of my closest friends of all time – definitely the closest in the city. I’m trying my best to write a few lines in the hope of being able to move on or at least cope with it.
I got to know Alireza about ten years ago when I graduated from engineering school and was moving to Vancouver. He was my cousin’s fiance, Susan, who married her a year later. We formed a friendship group with my cousins and some of our friends. We called it the Vlad Group – Vlad was the name of a kind Armenian officer we met on our first trip together in Armenia, who played a significant role in helping us resolve an issue during our visit to Yerevan. It doesn’t look like the best name, but trust me, it made much sense to us.
We regularly had these by-weekend gatherings and parties. We went on many short and long trips and made so many memories together in the past decade. I can just scroll up the photos on my phone and easily see nothing but documentation of all the great times we spent together.
Vlad group has been one of the major reasons why I developed the platform I’m working on and ranting about in my other blog posts. He is in most of the group photos I shared on this blog. You’ll get it better once the platform is published publicly – Updates on this matter are upcoming.
A few months ago, I was brought into ER (work exhaustion). It was after midnight; I couldn’t get hold of any of my family members at that time (Most were out of the city). I just called Alireza, and he came to the hospital from across the city and stayed beside me, along with my dear cousin Susan, the entire night. I can never forget that.
A few weeks ago, he went on a trip with his wife and a couple of their friends. In a matter of minutes after having lunch, Alireza showed a bad allergic reaction to eating possibly a particular type of fish. It immediately prevented him from breathing – asphyxiation – and he passed away in just a few minutes when they were on the way to the hospital.
He was only 37, and his death is one of the worst things that has happened to me. It’s been about 40 days, and I still cannot believe he is gone. I was shocked, and it took me a few weeks to get myself together. Regardless, it still hurts and is unbelievable.
He was hardworking, humble, kind, generous, selfless, humorous, and, most importantly, a great friend. His loss is felt every day. It profoundly affected my perception of the world – from changing priorities to realizing it all can be ended anytime. The sense of complete control over our destiny that we sometimes feel and brag about is nothing but a delusion.
This was a very personal matter, and I hadn’t shared much in years, but I knew I had to write about it; I wanted to document this pivotal moment as I felt it considerably changed how I would proceed with my life.
Rest in Peace Alireza MalekMohammad. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. I’ll never forget you and the joy you brought to our Vlad Group and your friends’ lives. 🖤
Stay safe…
Yaashaar