Masiha

“I’ll come to your apartment this time,” Masiha said when we were skyping. My aunt had just booked her plane tickets to New York for her annual visit to her son’s house. I said, “ok.” And nothing more. I didn’t want to outrightly say don’t come. When it looked like she was not going to let go of the idea I said, “ how are you going to climb all the stairs?”“Why are you bothered about that? If I have to I’ll sit on the stairs and pull myself up one stair at a time,” she said. And that’s exactly what she did. I lived in a 4th floor walk up in Brooklyn. She’s an amputee and was 78 years old then. She was with me for an entire week. She never left the apartment while she was there. I was constantly worried about her being uncomfortable. She never complains. Neither does she express her heartfelt emotions - she’s stoic. She has never told me, “I love you.” It’s only now as I’m editing these pictures that I clearly can see that every single deed of hers was a declaration of her love for me.