In the summer of 2010, I had just moved to New York City. I remember I had to go to my bank in person to get a cashiers check for the deposit on my studio in the Upper West Side, and there was a branch walking distance away from work near Times Square (I hadn't been living there long enough to be repulsed by the area during the day) and on the way back, I was accosted by a solicitor trying to get me to sign up to support an international child in need.
Long story short, I signed up and was assigned I young girl from Bangladesh named Sananda. We wrote letters and shared photos back and forth for over a decade and I literally got to see her grow up through those portraits. When I went to India for work in 2018 I really did try to finagle a way to visit Bangladesh to meet her (which actually is allowed through this organization) but wasn't possible.
Just before she aged out of the program last year she fell ill, which was awful, but the timing did mean that she qualified for the financial and medical assistance from the program and I have continued to receive updates on her progress.
Today I got a card in the mail which I figured was an updated letter and photo from my new child, but it ended up being a sympathy card with the news that Sananda had passed away earlier this month. I am so shocked, and really devastated. She was about 19 or 20, and had spent the last year or two ill and it's just so sad to think about. I always thought I'd meet her one of these days.
I couldn't not acknowledge her and how much I've enjoyed having her in my life, even if just as a penpal, for the past 13 years.
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