An Unforgettable 2013...

Every year is different for everyone, some people have been happy that 2013 is over. I'm never happy that a year is over, I'm pretty indifferent either way, but I have to say that for me 2013 has been a monumental year in my life. After having some major struggle years in 2010 and 2011, and an in between year of 2012, this past year really saw me take off. Many of you may know that Facebook has a sort of "year in review" timeline option, I finally looked at mine and here's a sample of my "Top Events" of 2013.

 

Alright that was my year, see ya!

Just kidding, but these were definitely highlights from a year full of them. Getting engaged and married within such a short period of time (we were officially engaged in May and got married in July, craziness!) was a whirlwind for sure. It was a wave of family, love and emotion that picked me up and took me for an unforgettable ride. In the end, my wedding in July was one of the happiest memories of my life, full of friends, love, laughter, tons of bling, and more laughter. 

Yup, this was my wedding in a nutshell

My sister is the one that made my wedding happen, and though it increased her blood pressure significantly, I couldn't have asked for a better sister and friend even though she wanted to toss me off a cliff by the time my wedding actually happened. I have to also give so much love to my parents who accepted Roberto 110% after finding out that we wanted to spend our lives together, despite him coming from a different cultural and religious background. Though he did convert to Islam of his own volition, it still boggles my mind that after 20+ years of hiding boyfriends and hyperventilating at the thought of my parents ever knowing that I had some romantic interest in the male species that they would be so loving and accepting of him as their new son. I also reflect on my friends,  who came out of the woodwork to join in with my last meeting wedding insanity. Though I could only invite a handful of friends who could have actually made it do it being so last minute and the wedding having limited funds, I will never forget how my best friend, Taz, who I've been friends since I was 4, drove up 15 HOURS one way (then back) to be there for me. She literally drove 30 hours total to come up to Northeast Pennsylvania and be driven insane by my family. That's true love. 

TRUE LOVE

My other homeboy for life, Arshad, also drove up for hours upon hours from Florida to join me. That's real friendship, and their presence there along with my dear friends from childhood and college on my special day was one of the most beautiful things I ever experienced in my life and I will never forget it.

Of course the last person I thank and reflect on is my husband, my Roberto. We were together for 4 years before our wedding, and he was the Chewbacca to my Han in this entire whirlwind. When he proposed to me in Alamo Park in San Francisco by surprising me with so many of my family and friends there, neither of us could even accept the engagement because we were so choked up. I cried like a maniac, only because I was so happy that we would be together...and that he locked that ish DOWN with style.

This is me making my ugly crying face when Roberto proposed

He accepted my family, my culture and religion I grew up with so graciously, and has made my parents so happy. It's funny how a relationship can progress beyond your wildest dreams, but ours did. We worked on our challenges together, we went through a cross continental relationship, losing jobs, gaining cats, hiding our love from my parents due to a fear of their non acceptance and multiple moves to be together. He is my partner in crime and I cannot wait to start 2014 with him as my Mr. Hussain.

My family, Roberto and I after getting our marriage license

Outside of the awesomeness in my personal life 2013 saw great leaps and dreams fulfilled in terms of the work I do with social justice and in my professional life. Around the time I got married, I received wonderful news that I had been selected for the National Governing Board of a women's organization I admire immensely, NAPAWF (National Asian Women's Political Forum). I joked with the Executive Director of NAPAWF, Miriam Yeung, that I think was more elated about joining the board than my own wedding (sorry Roberto!). But it has been life altering for me to be on a national board, working with women all across the country to advance the rights and voices of Asian Pacific Islander Women in a national context. I could not be more thrilled about this.

NAPAWF ladies and I lobbying on Capitol Hill for Women's Reproductive Rights!

In 2013 I also joined the board of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the California Democratic Party, my first time on any state political board, it was also cool to actually be voted into the position (which means that people temporarily lost their minds and actually picked me). This year, I also saw leaps and bounds in an organization I helped start, the Black Young Democrats of the East Bay, which was chosen as our county's "Democratic Club of the Year". Not bad for an organization which started just 2 years ago as a vision of promoting Black young leadership in the East Bay, California. I am always so proud of them and am honored to be part of their leadership.  

Black Young Dems will rock your activist socks off, and look good doing it

This year saw me doing intense outreach to marginalized communities on behalf of the Affordable Care Act, it has been a challenging journey that has been well documented in the press, but I am grateful for the opportunity to reach out on a grassroots level to make healthcare information more accessible.

  A collection of thank you notes from Asian American Studies students at SF State University for an Affordable Care Act presentation I did there

Though 2013 has been better for me than most years in recent memory, it also brought the loss of a person whom I cared about a lot.  I know that getting older will only bring more loss like this, and it is not something I am looking forward to. In April, my dear friend Polly passed away. I wrote about her in my previous blog post. She had health problems for awhile, but her death was sudden and unexpected for me. Though I miss her, I have gotten to know her family after her death and feel a sense of peace knowing that she was surrounded in life by so many who loved her dearly.

Grateful to have had her in my life

2014 is due to arrive very soon. In the past two weeks Roberto and I have crossed three state lines to spend the last vestiges of the year with our family and friends. I am so grateful for having his family be MY family, as we spent the best Christmas I have ever had in upstate New York. I am so grateful to have family that have accepted me wholly within their fold and I cannot believe that overnight I have so many new people who will part of my life forever. In these waning hours of 2013, I will be spending NYE with my mom at a brown peoples party aka a party full of other Bengali people that my parents are dragging my husband and I to. Still, I am happy to spend it with them, though at midnight I won't be able to give Roberto a kiss (too scandalous in these circles).

Having a pajama fam jam with Berto's family, my sister and her boyfriend in upstate New York

This year will be a year of transition since I am going to move back to the East Coast this summer. This is something a few of my friends know, but it will be news to some. This decision has been a long time coming, in a sense I sort of got "stuck" out West due to a terrible economy and had wanted to move back much sooner. Though I moved out to the Bay Area 4 years ago with love and stars in my eyes, I knew that the move would be temporary, that in the end I would come back home to the East Coast to be with my family and settle down (well as much as someone like me can settle down).

Woohoo! Jersey! Jersey!

I could not be more excited for the New Year, to move back to a home that I have missed so much for 4 years. I admit that though I am a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of moving across country again, I know that it is just another step to having my dreams come true. Here's to 2014, a year of having dreams come true!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

2013...let the awesomeness commence

Two weeks into 2013 and so much has happened. I wonder if this entire year will be like this. 2012 was a totally insane year. A "I can't believe all this happened year". My head is still spinning and it's already 2013. Last year I went to Vietnam after an insane fundraising effort, THEN was elected to go to the Democratic National Convention, which was insanely awesome. I went from starting 2012 with two part-time non-profit jobs and no health insurance and to working full time at my organization, Community Health for Asian Americans, where I work as a Youth Coordinator for Southeast Asian Young Leaders (SEAYL). I get to inspire the next generation!

my reaction to this year

2012 was also the year where I started blogging for Hyphen magazine and saw the inspiring growth of the Black Young Democrats of the East Bay and greatly increased diversity in young Democrat organizing in the East Bay. 2012 was the year I connected with former black panther founder and legend Bobby Seale to do an event, and also became part of an amazing class of young leaders as part of the San Francisco New Leaders Council 2012 class. I've met so many new and utterly inspiring people, and have become involved in so many wonderful things that really....oh wait my head is spinning again.

But 2012 also had its difficult and somber moments. This was the year I met and lost my friend Travis Morgado to the War in Afghanistan, an experience I blogged about a few times. I am so glad I was able to meet him and connect with his beautiful family, who have shown me much support in return. I also lost my friend Yvette at the onset of the year and my Barbara Nanu, an aunt who helped raise me as a child also passed away. I carry these losses with me always, I don't think people were really ever meant to 'get over', but we move on because what other choice do we really have?

So I come to 2013, who knows what this year will hold. Will it it be as utterly packed, emotional and insanely overwhelming as 2012? Probably. Already this year I ran to be an California Democratic Party Assembly delegate in my Assembly District, am continuing to help with organizing at my work against unjust labor practices and may be on the board of a great API organization and I am part of a groundbreaking International online art exhibit with a ridiculously talented group of Muslim women artists at the International Museum of Women, which will culminate in our March exhibit opening. Just the usual!

My fellow kick-butt Muslima artists and I!

I have to say though, amongst all of these activities, I did find some time to really enjoy myself and be with people I love. This past holiday season and New Years was a heartwarming experience. I returned to the East Coast to hang out with my family back in Wilkes-Barre, PA, the small town where I went to high school. There I took photos for the Women's museum exhibit by connecting with my local mosque. It was the mosque I attended as a child and a teenager and a mosque that has helped out my parents during the most difficult times in our lives.

In the East coast I also got in touch with Vivek Bald, the author of Bengali Harlem (to find out more, or to purchase the book please go to bengaliharlem.com). This is a book that could not be closer to my heart. It details the hidden stories of Bangladeshi (and other South Asian) immigrants that came to the US in the early 20th century. My family is included in these stories, as my dear nana (who's life and death I blogged about before) and his brother, Ibrahim Chowdry were some of the first Bangladeshi immigrants to come to New York City, Ibrahim actually being the first Bangladeshi man in NYC.  I have a feeling I will be writing another blog post soon about this topic, there is just so much to say about it. Let's just say that it inspired me to know that I had family doing community and social justice work in this country decades before I was even born!

My great grand uncle, community activist, my inspiration, Ibrahim Chowdry

The holidays and New Years invigorated me. From ugly sweater parties, to gallivanting around New jersey and PA during a blizzard, to eating as much pizza as humanly possible (West Coast has some great stuff, but pizza isn't one of them!) to spending time with my boyfriends family in upstate New York, I felt energized to be around people who love me and believe in me, and I do think that I am lucky to have this on both coasts. I think that this is a very special element in my life, to find good people no matter where I go.

Me and my homeboys rocking our ugly sweater..except Paul, who doesn't do the ugly sweater thing

So bring it on 2013! I will probably post less since I am so busy, but I will post nonetheless. My personal blog allows me to vent, ruminate and reflect on my life and I am glad to share that with my loved ones, friends and readers (all 5 of ya). I've looked at my earlier posts recently and realized that they were basically recounts of me banging my head in frustration about what to do with my life. At this point I am alright with the uncertainty, because honestly everything is uncertain, we just fool ourselves into thinking it isn't. I may not have solid plans but my goals are alive and well. Though I may never become an intergalactic ambassador from earth to other civilizations (hey, you never know!) I will continue to dream big, because well, what else is there to do really?

I wanted to end this post with something inspiring that happened to me recently. Last Saturday, on the Assembly delegate election day, I was surprised to arrive and see one of my friends already at the election, waiting for me. The reason I was surprised was because he is currently not a US citizen, so he cannot vote; he is still on his asylum status from Iran and has to wait another 3 years to vote. I was very happy to see him but asked him why he had gone through the trouble of coming out. "Because I wanted to support you and to be here if you needed help" he said responded.

I cannot express how touched I was by that experience. People who have immigrated to this country, who still cannot vote are willing to be involved and to help out. Even our own citizens often don't do that much. One of my co-workers, who is a permanent resident of Nepali background asked me if she could vote and support me as well. I was so moved by this. When people are anti-immigrant, I seriously want to just shake them into reality so they could understand that immigrants often love this country and contribute to this country more than anyone.

I am blessed to have experiences like this, and 2013 has only started. I only continue to be inspired =)

2012 over and out, big fat welcome to 2013!

I hope 2013 brings you lots of bear hugs!!!*

 *Disclaimer: Nadia Won't Shut Up does not promote nor encourage the hugging of dangerous omnivorous wildlife