Sultan Belikov

To know and love Sultan was to know a remarkable warmth. It was something like being given the impossible gift of embracing the sun—something bright, warm, and extraordinary, whose presence could be felt simply by being near it.

His family knew that warmth. His friends knew it. Everyone who shared in Sultan's life carries some part of it with them.

And perhaps that is why his absence is so difficult to comprehend. When we have known a light and warmth like that, we cannot help but feel the space where it once surrounded us.

But even in our grief, there remains something beautiful and unchangeable:

We were here with him.

We had the privilege of knowing him, loving him, laughing with him, watching him grow, sharing in his adventures, listening to his dreams, and witnessing the person he was becoming.

No amount of time would ever have felt like enough.

But the miracle is that Sultan was here at all.

He lived. He loved. He dreamed. He filled our lives with his presence.

And no amount of darkness can change the fact that his light was here.

That warmth belongs to all of us now.

A memorial service will take place at 1:00 PM, on Saturday, October 17, at Porter Loring Mortuary West.