Dedicated In loving memory of Solveig Keshavjee (1963 – 2019)
Dear God, please keep Solveig Zarah Keshavjee protected and in eternal peace in Your loving arms. We pray for her soul everyday and we love her, we place our trust in You always and know she is safe, looking over us as You shelter us all in Your grace.
https://solveigkeshavjee.home.blog/2019/12/09/bunter-teller/
We kept our tradition this year as well, as you taught us….and made a plate for you in loving memory.
…for you…
“Drive All Night”
When I lost you honey sometimes I think I lost my guts too
And I wish God would send me a word send me something I’m afraid to lose
Lying in the heat of the night like prisoners all our lives
I get shivers down my spine and all I wanna do is hold you tight
I swear I’ll drive all night just to buy you some shoes
And to taste your tender charms
And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms
Tonight there’s fallen angels and they’re waiting for us down in the street
Tonight there’s calling strangers, hear them crying in defeat.
Let them go, let them go, let them go do their dances of the dead (let ’em go right ahead)
You just dry your eyes girl, and c’mon c’mon c’mon let’s go to bed, baby, baby, baby
I swear I’ll drive all night just to buy you some shoes
And to taste your tender charms
And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms
There’s machines and there’s fire waiting on the edge of town
They’re out there for hire but baby they can’t hurt us now
Cause you’ve got, you’ve got, you’ve got, you’ve got my love, you’ve got my love
Through the wind, through the rain, the snow, the wind, the rain
You’ve got, you’ve got my, my love heart and soul
As time passes and the days turn to weeks, then turn to months and now almost 2 years have gone by…doesn’t change my love, my memories and my gratitude for every moment I spent with my beautiful Solveig. Though I have found a way to move forward and feel happiness in my memories, doesn’t lessen the loss I feel, the loss our girls feel at losing their mother…we miss Solveig everyday…everyday, and even though we are able feel happiness again and the pain doesn’t sting like a razor cut, we still feel it…we’ll always feel it, but we can now live in the way that Solveig would be proud of.
On this day I remember, as I do every day, our wedding and the start of our life together – I didn’t think it would get cut short after 26 years and I wish we could have had more time together, but for the time we did have, Solveig and I LIVED it FULLY and HAPPILY and steadfast in our Ismaili faith and with the love we have for God – I could not imagine it any other way. Solveig has left such a legacy and I am still learning from her…how to be an even better man, a better father, a better friend, and to continue her love of life, passion and kindness to others.
As life moves forward, not on, but forward, I can smile and laugh again and forge different paths. Life must continue, and new horizons await…yet I know that the whisper I hear in the trees, in my heart and in my soul, that sign, I know is her…it will always be her, guiding, and shining above.
I miss you every day my angel Solveig and I love you with all my heart and soul, that love is special and holds a place only for you. One day, I’ll hear your voice beside me, and you’ll take me home.
Happy anniversary to my beautiful Solveig.
Goodnight, my angel
Time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you’ve been asking me
I think you know what I’ve been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Wherever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away
Goodnight, my angel
Now it’s time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I’m rocking you to sleep
The water’s dark
And deep inside this ancient heart
You’ll always be a part of me
Goodnight, my angel
Now it’s time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry
And if you sing this lullabye
Then in your heart
There will always be a part of me
Someday we’ll all be gone
But lullabyes go on and on…
They never die
That’s how you
And I
Will be
(Words: Billy Joel)
Dear God, we humbly thank you for Solveig Zarah Keshavjee. We thank you for her life. For her kindness, her humor, compassion and bravery. For the love she shared with our family and friends. The joy she brought into all of our lives. And we ask that you be with us now. To guide us in our pain…and our grief…And help us comfort each other, strengthened by the knowledge of your love. Knowing that Solveig is not lost to us, merely separated for a while…as she finds rest and wholeness in your loving arms…until one day we may be reunited with her…in everlasting peace. Amen
There is not a single day, or moment that goes by where Solveig isn’t remembered in our hearts, in our thoughts, in our memories and in all the love that she has given us that endures eternally.
We miss you so much, and are so grateful that we were chosen to be your family – all those that knew Solveig throughout our 26 years together, know what her family meant to her…and we honor that now, by loving each other and staying by each other’s side through thick and thin.
Dear God, please grant peace eternally to, Solveig Zarah Keshavjee, who is under your care and your grace, that her soul may rest and shine above us, and that she always is proud of us. Dear God please grant peace to all those left behind, allow smiles and happiness to enter our hearts, now and always.
My beautiful Solveig, I shall hold you in my heart until I can hold you in heaven, happy birthday.
All the shows in loving memory of Solveig were COMPLETELY SOLD OUT! Partial proceeds from every event went to various foundations across the province. The special presentation the band did will be online soon with a link to https://www.ottawacancer.ca/
Solveig will always be in my heart, my thoughts and my love is endless…we all love you and miss you…I love you always…
Last year in January, Solveig Zarah Keshavjee, my beautiful wife and mother to our two incredible daughters became an angel. I am not going to cut and paste platitudes from the internet or funeral poems, but I will write in earnest…we miss her, think of her and love her everyday single day. Solveig still lives in our hearts and I see her in everyday my children…this is a blessing that I cannot ever begin to articulate properly – to be able to see her still in our children…her laugh, her smile, her strength, her wisdom, her courage and her compassion…it truly is God’s blessing. Sometimes I look up, and there she is, a reflection in our daughters, guiding and loving. I see how many people she touched with her kindness and joy… and in this way she still lives on. We have beautiful photos and video, music and song…we are so filled with gratitude. Solveig is honoured now by us living our lives to the fullest and continuing to live everyday with love. My family is deeply grateful to the incredible support and love we have been shown from friends and family across the globe and still receive this kindness daily…we are truly grateful.
Cherished and forever loved, Solveig Zarah Keshavjee, we miss you and love you, we smile and are filled with gratitude always as we ALWAYS remember you… beautiful wife and mother, loved by all, voice of an angel, forever in our hearts. NEVER FORGOTTEN. Azim
Solveig introduced us to this beautiful German tradition back in 1993 when we first met and the tradition has continued to this day. Even though Solveig is not physically here, her presence, in all we remember and honour her with is deeply felt. We feel her all around us like a gentle whisper, supporting and loving us as she has always done. Our plates are ready!
What is a Bunter Teller?
Bunter Teller translates as “colorful Plate”… but it’s much more than that. It is a plate of colorful goodies like cookies, fruit, candy and chocolates that is given at Christmas. A special cardboard plate decorated with pretty Christmas images… loaded up with our favorite cookies and other special treats. These were ours to eat, and not have to share. Solveig also set out a BIG Bunter Teller on the table LOADED with home baked cookies, candies and other treats… and spent the whole season replenishing it daily. Domino Steine, Spekulatius, Lebkuchen, Chocolate Glocken, Eiskonfekt, and MORE.
Where does the tradition of the Bunter Teller come from?
The Bunter Teller is mentioned in a song from the 19th century, “Lasst Uns Froh und Munter Sein” While we associate putting out Shoes for St. Nicholas, somewhere along the line, a plate was added to collect goodies.
One theory goes like this…Originally, Christmas trees were decorated with nuts, fruits and cookies. Kids loved that they could help themselves to these special seasonal treats… and then glass ornaments and lametta started showing up on trees. More and more families began using them, and the treats were crowded off the tree in favor of these beautiful and re-usable decorations. But the kids still wanted treats (glass balls are beautiful, but you can’t eat them) … so a plate was set by the tree, loaded with the cookies that used to hang from it. In a sense, the treats moved from shoes to tree to plate… Today kids get treats in shoes on Nicholas Tag, and on plates for Christmas.
German Paper Cookie Plates
The cookies and treats on the plate are special, but the plates themselves have a story too. Paper plates were invented around 150 years ago by a retired museum director, who was also a master Bookbinder, in the Brandenburg town of Luckenwalde. He had read an article about how unhygienic it was to put food on old newspapers, so he did some experimenting with pulp made from sawdust. In 1867 he got his first patent, and before you know it, paper plates were in use. Picture plates came soon after this, and by the 1880s, special Christmas plates for Christmas confections were being offered. Colorful plates with pictures of Children playing, the Weinachtsmann, and the Bethlehem stable. What’s interesting is that the pictures in the advertisements for the plates held mostly cookies and sweets instead of the traditional fruit and nuts. People loved the look… and started filling their plates with more calorie bomb sweets and fewer apples, oranges, dates and almonds.
Today, it wouldn’t be Christmas in a German Household without a Bunter Teller on the table, filled with all of your favorites. Whether you use the vintage paper plates, or you use regular serving plates, it is certain to become a favorite tradition in your home too.
Bunter Teller for New Year
Another time to have Bunter Teller is New Years Eve. The bounty of sweets on the plate represents the best of the past year, and is a hope for a plentiful New Year!
Special thanks to: https://germangirlinamerica.com/
It was only one hour ago
It was all so different then
Nothing yet has really sunk in
Looks like it always did
This flesh and bone
Is just the way that we are tied in
But there’s no one home
I grieve, for you
You leave, me
So hard to move on
Still loving what’s gone
They say life carries on
Carries on and on and on and on
The news that truly shocks
Is the empty, empty page
While the final rattle rocks
It’s empty, empty cage
And I can’t handle this
I grieve, for you
You leave, me
Let it out and move on
Missing what’s gone
They say life carries on
They say life carries on and on and on
Life carries on in the people I meet
In everyone that’s out on the street
In all the dogs and cats
In the flies and rats
In the rot and the rust
In the ashes and the dust
Life carries on and on and on and on
Life carries on and on and on
Life carries on and on and on and on
Life carries on and on and on
Just the car that we ride in
The home we reside in
The face that we hide in
The way we are tied in
As life carries on and on and on and on
Life carries on and on and on
Did I dream this belief
Or did I believe this dream?
Now I will find relief
I grieve
Solveig Keshavjee 
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