When I was 12 years old, I had a lot of friends. Looking back now, my best friend was someone I really never thought as a friend. She is Alaa. I met Alaa at Abedeen Academy. At first I thought she did not want to be my friend and she looked like she hated me too. But now we are best friends!! Alaa is a nice girl, she respects everyone, even the people she does not know. In 2017, I came to Abedeen and met Alaa.
Many months ago, I was stalking Vivy Yusof’s Instagram page and she posted videos of a talk she attended on her Instastory. It was pretty late. I had just put my daughter to bed, and because I did not want the sound of the video to wake her up, I watched the videos without its sound. Couldn’t be bothered to take my headphones downstairs either. Watched the video, read the caption to one of the videos, which immediately caught my attention.
It has been a while since I have had some time to catch a breather. The Eid-Ul Fitr break has come at just the right time. While I get ready to rejoice and celebrate, I cannot help but be reminded of the death by suicide of two very well known figures; one in fashion and design and the other in culinary. Yes, I am talking about the passing of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, both of whom took their own lives out of depression. They are not the first.