Our life adventure together started in 2010 when we met in England and began a long distance relationship. We married in April 2011, because travel between the UK and Canada was getting expensive, but more importantly, we could not wait to start spending our lives together. Our wedding was the day after the Royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Although they now have three children and we have none, we tell ourselves that it’s that one day head start that they had on us!
What We See in Each Other
Reeshma loves that Riaz has a playful personality and great sense of humour that makes people laugh. He is kind and generous and loves to help others. It means a lot to her that he is very family oriented and that he is actively involved with her family as well as his. Riaz is good at connecting with young children and is a favourite among the kids of our friends.
Riaz loves that Reeshma is a happy, smiling person who likes to laugh and find the humour in life. She is always taking care of family. Reeshma likes to get involved in the community and often volunteers for activities. She is sociable and has lots of friends. In her spare time, she has attended culinary school and Riaz sometimes calls her “Gusto” (like in Ratatouille) as he thinks her food is amazing. He likes that she is so creative and this shows in her cooking and craft projects. She is a caring and attentive mom to our two Chihuahuas who adore her.
Education for Life
Reeshma and Riaz have worked hard to achieve career goals. Reeshma is a university professor who teaches and does research in psychology (on improving relations between different cultural and religious groups) and Riaz is an accountant who works as a finance manager. We both grew up in families that put a high value on education. This has instilled in us a love of learning. We especially enjoy nature documentaries and visits to science museums. Both of us are also continually learning to improve our skills and knowledge related to our careers and our passions (cooking, technology). Given this love of learning, we are looking forward to helping our child(ren) with their homework and doing what we can to support them in reaching their full potential.
Family and Community
Recently we have become more involved in our religious community as volunteers and our child(ren) would have the opportunity to get involved in various community and volunteer activities. We believe that this kind of involvement can build confidence and friendships and can be fun for people of all ages.
Reeshma loves to cook and do crafts. She would love to share these activities with a child. She also enjoys theatre and tries to attend cultural events when there is an opportunity to do so.
Riaz enjoys magic and likes to entertain friends with his tricks. He also loves soccer (or football as it is known in Europe) and used to play in tournaments as well as with his friends. He is still a devoted fan of Arsenal football club, which was his local team in England.
We both have brothers who are married, and our families are close, although we cannot always get together as often as we would like. However, when we do get together, it’s for a nice family meal with good food, conversation, and some laughs. We have large extended families, with lots of cousins, mostly in Toronto and London. Our child(ren) would have no shortage of family members and relatives.
Both of us love hosting at our house and getting together with our friends and their kids. Many of our friends have young children and we enjoy spending time with them and feel blessed to have the opportunity to observe them growing up. They are full of surprises and the source of fun stories and fond memories.
Travelling and Experiencing
Because Riaz is from England, we visit the UK about once a year and our child(ren) would have a family home base in the UK as well as Canada. We love travel, and hope to take our child(ren) on adventures in Europe and Africa, where we have family ties, and also beyond. In 2013, we made a family trip to Tanzania with Reeshma’s parents and we went on a safari. We hope to be able to share the experience of observing animals in their natural environment with our child(ren) and it was just awe inspiring for us.
It is also important to us to learn about and experience different cultures. Riaz is bilingual (English, Kutchi) and Reeshma is trilingual (English, French, and Kutchi) and has some basic understanding of other languages. We live in a city where many people are bilingual (English/French) and our child(ren) would benefit from this environment.
Everyday Life at Home
When we are home, we love to spend family time together with our little dogs. Neeka and Myla are chihuahaus who love to play and sit on laps. They also joined our family through adoption. We enjoy watching movies at home and having friends over. Our home is often filled with laughter and good food, as we try to find the humour in life and each other and try to enjoy every day.
Thank you for considering us as prospective parents for your little one(s). We are committed to openness, and would be happy to welcome you as well as your child into our family. Our hope is to eventually have one or two children in our family, and we are open to adopting a sibling pair. We are happy to welcome a child of any cultural background and would be dedicated to learning about and celebrating the child’s heritage.
