Hello Rasim bahia,

Today is your wedding day and unfortunately I can't be there. Since there's no way for me to give you a physical gift, I've decided to write about what you mean to me, as I don't think I've ever explicitly expressed it.

From the moment I met you, you've been my biggest role model in life. It would not be an understatement to say you have inspired me and pushed me to be the person I am today. So much of my interests and hobbies can be attributed to you.

I remember when I came to Canada I was dying to play Minecraft and I didn't stop nagging about it. At the time, I believe you were either in grade 12 or your first year of uni, and despite that, you let me play the game on your PC. I remember the dozens of other times I came over to play games with you or when you just invited me to hang out. Those were such exciting moments for me, and I think you might know how much fun I have hanging out with you by how much I don't stop talking. I remember many of the games you invited me to play, starting with things like Arma 3, Dying Light, Subnautica, and games on your new Switch at the time. These little things shaped so much of my interest in games. I've always loved strategy games and games of that nature, and when you introduced me to those new games, I was over the moon that you had the same interests and hobbies as me.

One of the biggest things you influenced was my love for board games. When I first played Catan with you, it opened me up to the world of board games. I cannot tell you how much that game means to me and how much fun I have playing it. We also played Risk, and I distinctly remember the "house" rule we played by and how I was defending my small four plots of land against you and Siam. I remember the other times when I came by and asked if you played RimWorld, which was very new at the time, and I absolutely loved the game. I was so surprised to see you also played it. I remember the day we went out to get the PlayStation. I also remember the time when you got your latest Samsung phone and you invited me over to check out the VR. At that time, I didn't realize how much you were juggling school and work and still inviting your cousin over to spend time with. I am so grateful for you and the time you have spent with me, which really shaped the hobbies and interests that I have today. I cannot list all the things you have done for me.

I have always loved building infrastructure, seeing things like the power grid, city water infrastructure, and highways and trains. I have always loved these things because they are made with thousands of small things put together to build a larger system, and everything works with such beautiful chaos. It's why I love Cities: Skylines and Space Engineers (all games you showed me). The reason I've come to love software engineering so much is because I am able to build infrastructure as vast and complex as these real-world physical ones, but from the ground up, and be able to control and build every aspect of it, which is something I can't do if I did something like civil or electrical engineering. But you were my gateway to the world of programming. I only really coded something for the first time in grade 7, which was the wildfire prediction module. Looking back at it, it was such a dogshit mishmash of a project with no real coding skills or use. I am always so flabbergasted when you remember these small things about me that I have done in the past. The project was a very silly thing in the grand scheme of things, and yet you always remember it and point it out to me, and that makes me feel very appreciated. My love for this field and coding is definitely because I love what I do, but a huge part of it has to be thanks to you. My niche interest in the cloud and system design is a huge part thanks to you.

Every time I struggle in life with academics, work, or anything else, you are the first person I look to, and I see how much you have achieved and how much you have persevered to get to where you are and be the person you are. I have immense respect for you, and you are the biggest role model that I could possibly ever have. From the gifts you’ve given to me to the places you have taken me, I remember almost all of it, as every one of them has played a huge role in my life. I cannot thank you enough for being the most amazing cousin I could possibly ever have, the older brother I don't have. I hope one day I can repay the favor that you have given me. I'd love if you would come visit Ottawa and I can show you around my university, just like how you did when you showed me around Waterloo.

From the bottom of my heart, I absolutely love you, and I cannot say how happy I am for you. Congratulations to you and Anagha. I cannot wait to meet the two of you one day, and I definitely want to hear your story.

Regards, Ayham