My Dadi has been one of the most inspirational people in my life. I don’t think I would be where I am today without her influence in my life. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think about her. 

Dadi had two great loves in her life. God and family. Her life was centred on living for God and doing God’s work wherever she went. Dadi would often tell long stories about doing things for church, such as cooking and having people over for prayer meetings. Sometimes these stories about church turned into something completely different. But she always ended the story by saying that ‘We are God’s people.’ I often felt that this phrase captured so much of Dadi’s heart and life. That we are God’s people, and our lives are centred on living for God in all that we do. It’s like there was no other way to live her life; this is what God’s people do. 

The greatest way Dadi expressed her life for God was through her love and devotion to her family. Family meant everything to Dadi. Nothing made her happier than having her family around and feeding them. I learnt early on that food is Dadi’s primary love language. The more you ate, the more love you shared. 

What was most incredible about the way Dadi did family was how she welcomed everyone in. No one was excluded from Dadi’s family. Her house was always filled with friends and strangers, but they were equally part of the family. All of us have brought people over to 64, and each person has been welcomed in with her unceasing love. 

I remember one Easter when Dadi had this massive Lindt Lindor Easter egg on the side. It must have cost at least £20. All of us grandchildren were trying to work out who was getting the Easter egg. Then one day, Arnie was over, hanging out with all of us, and she gave him the Lindt Lindor Easter egg, which, might I add, was at least twice the size of all our smaller Easter eggs. We were shocked that all the grandchildren had been bumped by Arnie, but in Dadi’s eyes, he was just another grandchild. 

I also recall how we would hang out with the kids next door, Hamish and Jerry. There were times when Hamish came over to play at Dadi’s, even when none of us were there. But that was Dadi’s house. It was a place where everyone was always welcomed as family.  

Growing up, Dadi would tell us stories about how her father was a Padre-saab. She was so proud of her father being a priest, and in turn she encouraged me greatly as I became a priest. One of the things she and her brother Saleem always told me to do as a priest was to visit the old people. But more than just saying visit old people, it was her way of saying go and visit the lonely, the vulnerable, the sick and the marginalised. Show them that no person is forgotten by God. Take God to the people to remind them that we are all God’s people. 

My calling to be a priest has taken me to live across the country. This has meant no longer seeing Dadi every week. Though this saddened me, I took so much joy in knowing I was doing what she told me to do. Every time I visit someone who is old, sick, or on their own, I think of Dadi. I think of how proud she was of me and what I was doing. I am glad to know that I am perhaps visiting someone else’s Dadi or Dada. Dadi, I will do what you say. I will visit the people and remind them that God loves them and that we are all God’s people.