Saturday, February 4, 2023
Zina
February 6, 1955 – Forever in our hearts
This is the story of our beloved Nazina, also known as “Zina”, our very own “Warrior Princess.”
Our darling Zina was born on February 6, 1955, the youngest of 8 children to Nazir and Mymoon Balloo. She often credited her older sister Hazra for raising her and told stories about how she learnt about perfumes, lotions and other fanciful things from Hazra.
At the age of 15, Zina met the love of her life, Randolph Khunjar. Randolph would often visit his grandmother who resided opposite Zina’s parent’s home. Zina and Randolph’s love story is one for the books and continues to charm and captivate all lucky enough to know it. Despite her witty remarks in his presence (even through her last days), she made everyone know that he was the one and only person for her.
Zina and Randolph first got married on April 24, 1978; and later renewed their vows under the sanctity of the Catholic Church on March 3, 1994 following their joint conversion to Catholicism through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
Zina welcomed her firstborn Kerry on October 2, 1978; and as Kerry later deduced, February was indeed the month of love, because on October 3, 1982, her first son, Wendell was born. She was also blessed with a third child, Martin Anthony, born prematurely on August 30, 1995. While Martin Anthony’s time on earth was short, Zina continued to love and celebrate him until her last day, and took comfort that they would be reunited.
Zina attended ASJA Girls College followed by Trinzuela Secretarial College, and upon completion immediately began working as an accounting and Human Resources Clerk at the Ministry of Works (MOW) in Princes Town. She retired from MOW in 1994, upon learning of her third pregnancy. Soon after, Zina opened her home to Venezuelan students visiting Trinidad to learn English. After observing their struggles, she began tutoring them herself, creating an extended family.
Zina was the first female in her family to enter the workforce and inspired, motivated and paved the way for her young nieces and daughter to follow. She firmly believed that every young woman should be financially independent; lessons she passed on to her daughter, Kerry. She also made sure her son, Wendell, knew how to cook, clean and as she would always say, “mind himself”.
Zina sacrificed her comfortable lifestyle to migrate to the Unites States of America in 1999 to provide her children opportunities she believed they would not otherwise have in Trinidad. To help support her family, Zina first took on a retail sales position at Burdines and later a customer service position at American Express, both of which she hated. Like so many other immigrants, she soon realized that her education from home was of little use without a US certificate of equivalence and so she enrolled in classes at Miami-Dade College (MDC) to secure her General Educational Development (GED) certificate. She not only left MDC with her GED but also with a job in the Community Education Department and numerous dear friends. Zina later transitioned to work as the administrative assistant to the Director of the Hospitality Management Program at MDC, and eventually made her way to Florida International University’s Kovens Conference Center (KCC). Zina retired her position as the Office Manager at KCC on April 30, 2021.
If you listen to anyone who was blessed to know Zina, they frequently comment on her beauty and style. Her beauty emanated from within and she had a smile that could light up any room. Zina was a woman of class and was known for her elegance and sophistication, but this paled in comparison to her selfless love for her family. Her passion and dedication to her family knew no bounds; for her, family was everything. Zina’s husband, children, children-in love and grandson were her heart and joy. There’s no denying that she lived to teach them how to love.
Zina was generous at heart and gave of her time and resources without judgement. She was encouraging to all she met and taught her children to do the same. She believed in quality over quantity and this translated to every aspect of her. Even though Zina was a private and reserved individual, if she welcomed you into her circle, she loved you intensely. She enjoyed cooking for her family and friends and was known for her delicious curries, rotis, pelau, and beef soup. Few people know how great a baker she was but Zina loved making breads and especially liked making pineapple upside down cakes for her husband.
Zina loved to celebrate life’s moments, big or small. She made every birthday special and gave the best “just because” gifts. She had a youthful, witty and adventurous personality; and loved to travel. From Las Vegas to Alaska to England, Spain and France, she enjoyed seeing new things and places, drinking Pina Coladas or Sangria and enjoying the finer things in life.
Along with her fun-loving side, she was also honest, and direct – and when she spoke, we all listened. She had her way with words, both written and spoken. Zina loved playing word games such as “boogle” and was ruthless when playing. While she would give anything to her children, she would NEVER “give” them a win in scrabble or boggle! She reveled in making multi-syllable words. She could spend all day playing “Words with Friends” and often times boasted when she would “beat” her daughter’s friends Gino and Martin. Zina was also a master of the wit, even when she fell ill, she retained the ability to make us laugh with her frank observations about our appearance or smell.
Zina’s most cherished role was that of grandmother. Her love for her grandson, Wesley was unrivaled. She would often visit him and took great pleasure spending time and teaching him new things. Zina mischievously introduced young Wesley to two of her guilty pleasures, McDonald’s fries and ice cream. When she visited, she enjoyed taking him for walks around his neighborhood, cooking hot roti and chasing him around the house and yard. She cherished her special nighttime rituals with Wesley, massaging his head and showering him with kisses and when she wasn’t able to be present in person, she would sing, send virtual hugs and kisses and tell him “secrets” that only he and grandma knew. She definitely made her mark in his heart and mind. For instance, everyone who visits him now has to ask permission to stay in Grandma’s room!
While we are saddened that Zina has departed this physical world, we celebrate every moment we were blessed to have her be a part of our lives. We know that she will be reunited with her infant son, Martin Anthony Khunjar, mother, father, siblings and friends. She will be dearly missed and live on in the hearts of her loving husband, Randolph; her daughter and son-in-love, Kerry and Omari; her son and daughter-in-love, Wendell and Jennifer; her grandson, Wesley “Bubba”; her siblings, siblings-in love, nieces, nephews and numerous dear friends.