My name is Michelle Lindsey; I'm 26, and I'm an American. I loved and respected Benazir Bhutto with all of my heart. Other than my own mother, Benazir meant more to me than anyone else in this world. Losing her has left me rudderless and in immense grief. I don't think that this profound hole in my heart will ever heal...
God gave me a gift - an extraordinary gift. I had the beautiful and profound blessing and honor of exchanging e-mails with Benazir in the last month of her life.
I am no one of importance, just one who was greatly moved and inspired by Benazir's courage and bravery. I sent her a message of support and encouragement. And she wrote back to me, personally, in less than 24 hours. A kinder, more heartfelt, sincere message I have never received. For all that has been said and written about Benazir, I think that this simple, yet profound, act of kindness, warmth, and sincerity speaks the ultimate truth to the woman she truly was: a soul of kindness, taking the time during an incredibly tumultuous period to send a message of gratitude to an unimportant nobody halfway around the world. It's what we do when no one is watching that testifies to the heart of who we truly are. In this moment, I came to know Benazir Bhutto. I knew her heart. I knew who she truly was in spirit: a woman of compassion and largeness of soul who cared deeply for others. This was reflected always in her life - as it was in the sacrifice, courage, and martyrdom of her death.
Benazir was your hope and your future. She was also my hope. She was also my future.
I had wanted and planned to move to Pakistan and dedicate my life to working for and with Benazir in her courageous struggle to restore democracy to Pakistan and battle against extremism, dictatorship, poverty, and ignorance.
I created a website and petition - www.SupportBenazir.org - in November 2007 with the mission and hope of collecting signatures for a petition in support of a U.S. Congressional Resolution supporting Benazir and democracy in Pakistan. I e-mailed Benazir about this petition and I promised her that I would do everything humanly possible to see that this petition received support and that it was introduced on the floor of the United States Congress. If it takes every day of my life - I will not give up until that promise is realized.
Through my effort in working on the petition - through the beautiful and incredibly special contact I was blessed in having with Benazir - and through the gracious and wonderful Pakistani people I had the honor and joy of communicating with, I came to care so deeply and profoundly for the people of Pakistan.
And I love and care so deeply, so profoundly, and so very much for Benazir. I would have given my life to save hers...in an instant and without hesitation. She was my inspiration. She was my heart. She is my inspiration. She is my heart. And she forever will be.
And the long and valiant struggle of the democracy-seeking people of Pakistan is part of my heart. And I promise to do everything I can to help see and realize for Pakistan, Benazir's dream of democracy and modernity. I promise to make her struggle my own. And I will never give up. Whether my life be long or short, I promise that I will commit myself, my heart, and my life to seeing that her dream and her vision is realized. INSHALLAH.
From every house a Bhutto will come - and not only in Pakistan - but in the hearts, homes, and nations of the world who believe in the dream and vision of democracy for which Benazir gave her life. All of us who carry and hold on to her dreams and beliefs carry her spirit within us...here in my heart, in hearts around the world, and in the heart of Pakistan.
Benazir Zindabad! Jeay Bhutto!
-- Michelle Lindsey, 26, from the United States
This letter was published in The Frontier Post.
To read my petition and the tributes I've written in honor of Benazir - and to light a candle in Bibi's memory - please visit my website:
Time begins
Time ends
We decide
What to do with time
~ Benazir Bhutto ~
1953 - 2007