Azim was my sister's father in law. He was diagnosed with cancer last month and he passed away this week. I don't know how that happens and I have serious misgivings about our medical system. But, that's not what I want to write about.
Azim was such a warm, friendly guy. As extended family, we met up at many family gatherings. He was always interested in others, asking questions and genuinely engaging with people. In many ways he was very similar to my father and they got along great. They were both engineers, immigrants and all about family. He too was a wonderful, fully engaged grandfather to my sister's kids. But Azim was also into food and often brought persian food to gatherings and even had some of his own special recipes. He loved soccer and was still actively playing just a few months ago.
He will be missed, but praise God, Azim is in heaven. He became a Christian this past spring and I am confident that he is now more fully alive than ever and completely healed. He was a good, decent guy but that's not why he's in heaven. He's in heaven because he believed. And that means that this is not goodbye, but see you later.
