Asimina Saikaley

My beautiful wife, Asimina, or Mina to those who knew and loved her, passed away peacefully at only 47 years old, surrounded by the family who meant everything to her.

Mina and I met and started dating as teenagers. For 30 years, we grew up together, built a life together, became husband and wife, and then became parents to Stella in 2009 and Mila in 2011.

But saying Mina was my wife doesn't really come close to describing what she was to me. She was my best friend. She was my soulmate. We knew each other to our cores. We knew each other's deepest wishes, fears, strengths and weaknesses. We could talk about anything and everything. We laughed together, went on dates together, raised our girls together, supported one another through the best moments of our lives and carried each other through the hardest. We were completely intertwined. We were in-step, every step of the way.

During Mina's fight with cancer, the words "in sickness and in health" took on a meaning I could never have understood when we first said them 20 years ago. Mina trusted me to care for her, to protect her and to carry out her wishes. I tried with everything I had to do that for her, completely and without reservation. People have told me that I was her blessing. The truth is that she was mine.

But of everything Mina was in her life, nothing made her prouder than being Stella and Mila's mom. They were the centre of her world.

She was warm, honest and direct. She was always ready with advice and somehow had the ability to tell the girls exactly what they needed to hear, even when it was difficult, while making sure they knew it came entirely from love. She was fun. She was cool. She was comforting. She was incredibly knowledgeable and seemed to have an answer for everything.

She loved taking Stella and Mila for walks just so they could talk. She loved driving them to sports and sitting on the sidelines watching them compete. She loved simply being involved in their lives. And she was always thinking about them. She would see something she thought one of them would love and surprise them with it for absolutely no reason other than that making them happy made her happy. Being their mom came before everything else.

Through the way she lived, Mina taught Stella and Mila to be strong and confident. To trust themselves. To follow their instincts. To be kind. To be generous. To help people who need it. To stand up for themselves and for others. To love their family fiercely and selflessly. Those lessons will be part of them forever.

Mina had a presence that was impossible to miss. She was bright, spunky, outgoing and incredibly funny. When she walked into a room, you knew she was there, and somehow the room became more alive because of it. She had a beautiful smile and a voice that people loved. In fact, her distinctive voice and infectious laugh was one of the very first things that captured my heart. She spoke her mind and told you exactly what she thought, but she did it with sincerity and respect because everything she said came from her heart.

She made people laugh. She made people comfortable. She made people feel like they mattered.

She was extraordinarily generous, often in ways very few people ever knew about. Mila and Stella remember her buying groceries for families who were struggling and purchasing school books for children whose families couldn't afford them. That was Mina. If she saw someone who needed help, her first instinct was simply to help, because she simply cared.

Family was Mina's greatest joy, and she was the glue that held ours together. Our home was constantly filled with people because that was exactly how she wanted it. Holidays, birthdays, summer BBQs, or just a random day were enough reason to bring everyone together. There would be too much food, drinks, conversations, laughter and people everywhere. Mina loved cooking for everyone, but what she really loved was looking around and seeing all of the people she cared about in one place. That was happiness to her.

Her family and friends have said that their lives were better simply because they knew her. I can't think of many more beautiful things that can be said about someone's life. She had a gift for making people feel special and welcome. She was fiercely loyal and was an incredible wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, daughter-in-law, colleague and friend.

Mina was born in Winchester in 1979 and spent part of her childhood living in Greece with her parents and sisters before returning to Canada. Throughout every chapter of her life, she formed relationships that mattered deeply to her, and people carried those relationships with them because Mina was not someone you easily forgot.

She was the cherished daughter of Joanna and the late Michial Xidous, and the cherished daughter-in-law of Jimmy and the late Siham Saikaley. She was the beloved sister of Dimitra and Maria, sister-in-law to Frank, Micheline, Elie and Angela, and a loving aunt to Brianna, Alexa, Matteo, Mia, Stelio, Milana, Ioanna and Michael.

Cancer tested Mina in ways no person should ever have to be tested. She fought incredibly hard. And through it all, she showed the same remarkable courage and inner strength that had always been part of who she was. Even during the hardest moments, she was still Mina. Still thinking about her family. Still worrying about other people. Still loving. Still fighting.

There are so many things I hope Stella, Mila and all of us carry forward from the way Mina lived her life. She taught us to love each other, to support each other, and to always be there for each other. She taught us to let our heart guide us. As a father, I know Mina’s light will continue to shine and glow exponentially in our two daughters.

That was Mina. She lived that way.

There is now an incomprehensible and unfillable void in our lives. I don't know that I will ever fully understand how someone so full of life, with so much love still to give, could be taken from us so young. But after 30 years together, I also know how unbelievably blessed I was. I got to grow up with her. I got to fall in love with her when we were still kids. I got to build a life with her. I got to marry her. I got to raise two incredible daughters with her. I got to laugh with her, grow with her, go on dates with her, talk about absolutely everything with her, lean on her, care for her and love her.

And I got to call my best friend my wife.

Stella, Mila and I will miss her more than words could ever express. She will be loved, remembered and carried with us for the rest of our lives.

I love you forever, Mina.

May God rest your beautiful soul in peace.

For those wishing to pay their respects, visitation will take place at McEvoy-Shields Funeral Home in Ottawa on Friday, September 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The funeral service will take place at St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral on Saturday, September 12, at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Elias Cathedral.

Our family would also like to thank everyone who has surrounded us with so much love and support, and the staff at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre for the kindness and loving care they gave Mina throughout her fight.