Shahnaz Pestonji was out shopping for groceries like she always does on Thursdays, but when she didn’t arrive home at her usual time, her husband Soli began to worry.
Just as he was about to head out to look for her, a police officer knocked on his door. “It was the worst time of my life,” shared Soli. “They said someone had stabbed her.”
Shahnaz had been stabbed in a seemingly unprovoked attack just after 9:30 a.m. in a commercial parking lot in the Parkway Forest Drive and Sheppard Avenue East area.
The 71-year-old was rushed to hospital where she died of her injuries. Toronto police are searching for a lone male suspect.
Her family, who describe her as the kindest person, is now grieving the devastating loss of their beloved wife, mother and grandmother.
“I don’t want to think of my mom like that. I want to think of my mom as who she was in life, and she’s the most kind person, the least violent person you’ll ever meet, doing things for everybody else, her spirit, her smile,” said her daughter Dina.
Shahnaz was a nurse at Sunnybrook for over 20 years and she carried that caring nature to every part of her life, her family tells CityNews.
“She always found the joy in everything, no matter what we’re going through, even in the hard times, she was the one that always was our rock. (She) made sure that everyone was okay around her, that we were all taken care of,” shared Dina.
Soli and Shahnaz has been married for 47 years. “I was truly blessed, I mean, it’s 47 years, but I don’t think too many people will have the life that I’ve had,” he shared.
“She’s everything for everyone, but with such a kind heart and also with so much optimism and laughter. She would never really let us be sad. She always found the way to light things up for us,” said Dina.
The family said they don’t want to keep analyzing the tragedy of the way she died as “there’s never going to a way for us to reconcile [with it].”
“It’s never going to make sense … we can only hope that person gets help, but not think about that at all … just think about what we’ve had with her.” said Yasmin. “That’s the only way we can look at it and be able to move forward in a positive way.”
Yasmin is expecting her second child and her mother will never be able to meet her grandchild. “My mom is the second person who’s been able to feel the baby kick and that will never be taken away from us.”
“Our life of almost 40 years [with my mom] , and almost 42 years for Dina, of having that kind of love, you don’t just lose that. I hope we can make my mom as proud as we can and just honour her,” shared Yasmin.
