I’m very saddened to say that Ryma has passed away. Her twenty-two month battle with cancer has come to an end. She fought bravely, remained positive to the end, and never lost her sense of humor, her love for her family and friends, or her faith in Christ. Her last few months were particularly difficult, so the girls and I take comfort in the fact that the old cliché is true: she is in a better place.
I first met Ryma in the World Bank office in Jakarta, when I joined a prayer group for staff members. From our prayer group, I knew Ryma was a strong woman both in life and in faith, always having a positive outlook and a golden heart.
Ryma I knew, does not like to burden her friends. I remember one instance of this when she moved to DC and I offered to pick her up at the airport, she said no and insisted that she could use the airport shuttle.
Ryma always appreciated staying in contact with her friends the old-fashioned way. She loved to write and actually mail cards; she never missed Easter or Christmas and I enjoyed it very much. Once I asked her the reason she does it, and Ryma said that this old-fashioned way of communicating brings her joy. She genuinely liked to write and give personal messages to each of us. Ryma, I learned a lot from you about how to treat friends with respect and how to take the time to put thought into what you give.
Ryma is a good cook too; I was able to enjoy her delicious food when I came over to her apartment. I admired her ability to cook while chatting with me and still produce yummy “bakwan sayur” (veggie fritters.) Randy is certainly very lucky to enjoy Ryma’s delicious food all the time.
Ryma, please rest in peace. I am grateful to have shared a deep friendship with you. Our friendship is not intense, but whenever one of us needed help from one another, we just knew that we could count on each other.
Jessica and Angel, whenever you miss your mom’s cooking, please let me know and I will try my best to re-create it for you.
The poem ‘Friendship’ by Khalil Gibran:
Your friend is your needs answered. She is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And she is your board and your fireside. For you come to her with your hunger and you seek her for peace.
When your friend speaks her mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withold the “ay”. And when she is silent your heart ceases not to listen to her heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shred, with joy that it unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in her may be clearer in her absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mastery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend. If she must know the ebb of your tide, let her know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek her with hours to kill? Seek her always with hours to live. For it is her to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Rest In Peace, Ryma, ’till we meet again.