Deep Singh Badhesha
@deepnotshallow.bsky.social
Policy Advocate📜 | Activist ✊🏾 | Attorney ⚖️ | Sikh ☬ | Food Enthusiast 🍽️ | Denverite 🌇🗻
All posts(?) are my own & not the views of past or current employers.
All posts(?) are my own & not the views of past or current employers.
Pinned
It’s hard to be back here in this position again. I want to share this about my mother, who passed away. Her life as a working-class immigrant mother tells an American story that feels unimaginable now.
No idea when any of this will feel normal again. People say keep moving as grief comes in waves, so I’m pretending it’s a new year now and this is a reset...
What’d I miss? I hear we’ve got a civil war in the Midwest and wars in Greenland and South America now? Cool cool cool.
What’d I miss? I hear we’ve got a civil war in the Midwest and wars in Greenland and South America now? Cool cool cool.
It’s hard to be back here in this position again. I want to share this about my mother, who passed away. Her life as a working-class immigrant mother tells an American story that feels unimaginable now.
January 16, 2026 at 1:20 AM
No idea when any of this will feel normal again. People say keep moving as grief comes in waves, so I’m pretending it’s a new year now and this is a reset...
What’d I miss? I hear we’ve got a civil war in the Midwest and wars in Greenland and South America now? Cool cool cool.
What’d I miss? I hear we’ve got a civil war in the Midwest and wars in Greenland and South America now? Cool cool cool.
Reposted by Deep Singh Badhesha
It’s hard to be back here in this position again. I want to share this about my mother, who passed away. Her life as a working-class immigrant mother tells an American story that feels unimaginable now.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
It’s hard to be back here in this position again. I want to share this about my mother, who passed away. Her life as a working-class immigrant mother tells an American story that feels unimaginable now.
As I promised Dad, I will continue to take care of our family and our community from the foundation you both built. I am sorry we did not have more time together while you were both here.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
As I promised Dad, I will continue to take care of our family and our community from the foundation you both built. I am sorry we did not have more time together while you were both here.
Mom, I am glad you can rest now and be with Dad. Thank you for everything you gave to our family and our community. I will always love you
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Mom, I am glad you can rest now and be with Dad. Thank you for everything you gave to our family and our community. I will always love you
It is exhausting, uncelebrated work, done without titles or recognition. We were never wealthy, but we never felt poor. There was always food, always people, always someone to lean on. That sense of abundance came not from money, but from the community she built and sustained around us.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
It is exhausting, uncelebrated work, done without titles or recognition. We were never wealthy, but we never felt poor. There was always food, always people, always someone to lean on. That sense of abundance came not from money, but from the community she built and sustained around us.
My mother’s life is a mosaic of quiet labor that goes unseen. Immigrant mothers, and especially eldest daughters, carry an enormous weight. They raise siblings, hold families together, organize communities, translate cultures, and absorb everyone else’s needs before their own.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
My mother’s life is a mosaic of quiet labor that goes unseen. Immigrant mothers, and especially eldest daughters, carry an enormous weight. They raise siblings, hold families together, organize communities, translate cultures, and absorb everyone else’s needs before their own.
She missed him terribly and often said she was comforted by the idea that one day they would be reunited. Their marriage was difficult at times, as many arranged marriages are, but in the end they deeply cared for one another.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
She missed him terribly and often said she was comforted by the idea that one day they would be reunited. Their marriage was difficult at times, as many arranged marriages are, but in the end they deeply cared for one another.
At her core, my mother was a caretaker. She raised her siblings. She raised her nieces and nephews. She raised my sister and me. She cared for my father and for her community. When my father passed away a little over two years ago, she felt a deep sense of loss and a loss of purpose.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
At her core, my mother was a caretaker. She raised her siblings. She raised her nieces and nephews. She raised my sister and me. She cared for my father and for her community. When my father passed away a little over two years ago, she felt a deep sense of loss and a loss of purpose.
We had dreams of my mother being able to walk her grandchildren to school, teach them Punjabi and relish them with stories of community and history.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
We had dreams of my mother being able to walk her grandchildren to school, teach them Punjabi and relish them with stories of community and history.
In September, my daughter was born, and my mom was overjoyed to meet her. The plan was for my mother to move to Denver and live with us. She was supposed to join us before she was admitted to the hospital in November.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
In September, my daughter was born, and my mom was overjoyed to meet her. The plan was for my mother to move to Denver and live with us. She was supposed to join us before she was admitted to the hospital in November.
Like many small business owners, she struggled with the cost of healthcare and the lack of meaningful insurance. My parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and even took out second mortgages to cover those costs. She lived with many illnesses for much of her life.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Like many small business owners, she struggled with the cost of healthcare and the lack of meaningful insurance. My parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and even took out second mortgages to cover those costs. She lived with many illnesses for much of her life.
My mother and father owned our small mom-and-pop liquor store, Village 7 Liquor, for twenty-six years. My mom worked the opening shifts and then switched with my dad in the early afternoon so she could come home to care for us and for our community.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
My mother and father owned our small mom-and-pop liquor store, Village 7 Liquor, for twenty-six years. My mom worked the opening shifts and then switched with my dad in the early afternoon so she could come home to care for us and for our community.
She joked that if we had stayed in Queens, we would have campaigned for him and probably even known him. Seeing a half-Punjabi kid who lives in Astoria, Queens gave her nostalgia of what was and hope of what could be.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
She joked that if we had stayed in Queens, we would have campaigned for him and probably even known him. Seeing a half-Punjabi kid who lives in Astoria, Queens gave her nostalgia of what was and hope of what could be.
In recent years, we often talked about what was happening to America and how it no longer felt like the country she had spent forty years building her life in. Near the end, we celebrated together when Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
In recent years, we often talked about what was happening to America and how it no longer felt like the country she had spent forty years building her life in. Near the end, we celebrated together when Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City.
That year, she attended her first caucus, sent postcards, and called other voters. In 2016, she caucused for Bernie Sanders and then stubbornly refused to vote in November because she felt the Democratic Party had left her behind.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
That year, she attended her first caucus, sent postcards, and called other voters. In 2016, she caucused for Bernie Sanders and then stubbornly refused to vote in November because she felt the Democratic Party had left her behind.
She became a U.S. citizen in 1992. I often joked that my mother somehow had her finger on the pulse of America through her votes. She supported Clinton in 1992 and 1996, Bush in 2000 and 2004, and then passionately supported Obama in 2008.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
She became a U.S. citizen in 1992. I often joked that my mother somehow had her finger on the pulse of America through her votes. She supported Clinton in 1992 and 1996, Bush in 2000 and 2004, and then passionately supported Obama in 2008.
Growing up, Saturdays were devoted to preparing langar and driving to other people’s homes to help set up for service. For more than a decade, she helped coordinate Gurdwara services hosted in rotating homes. Our family hosted three to five times a year as well.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Growing up, Saturdays were devoted to preparing langar and driving to other people’s homes to help set up for service. For more than a decade, she helped coordinate Gurdwara services hosted in rotating homes. Our family hosted three to five times a year as well.
To find and grow the community, she would go through the phonebook every new year, searching for Punjabi and Sikh last names and cold-calling families she had never met to invite them to join us.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
To find and grow the community, she would go through the phonebook every new year, searching for Punjabi and Sikh last names and cold-calling families she had never met to invite them to join us.
In Colorado Springs, my mother was one of the founding members of the city’s first Gurdwara (Sikh Temple). Before the temple was built, she organized the Sangat (Sikh Congregation) to meet in different homes every other Sunday.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
In Colorado Springs, my mother was one of the founding members of the city’s first Gurdwara (Sikh Temple). Before the temple was built, she organized the Sangat (Sikh Congregation) to meet in different homes every other Sunday.
She was a staunch protector of women and children. Our home was always open to families and individuals who needed a safe place to stay or a warm meal. I remember countless guests throughout my childhood who stayed with us, for days or months, when they needed help.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
She was a staunch protector of women and children. Our home was always open to families and individuals who needed a safe place to stay or a warm meal. I remember countless guests throughout my childhood who stayed with us, for days or months, when they needed help.
After several years in New York, my parents moved with my sister and me to Colorado Springs. My mother was known as a brilliant woman, a socialite who loved hosting guests and parties, and a fierce debater who never hesitated to speak her mind.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
After several years in New York, my parents moved with my sister and me to Colorado Springs. My mother was known as a brilliant woman, a socialite who loved hosting guests and parties, and a fierce debater who never hesitated to speak her mind.
When she met new arrivals, she helped however she could. She organized community gatherings, meals, and services. The people she helped and befriended now stretch from coast to coast, and many have already reached out to share their stories with me.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
When she met new arrivals, she helped however she could. She organized community gatherings, meals, and services. The people she helped and befriended now stretch from coast to coast, and many have already reached out to share their stories with me.
In New York, she was both a young mother and an avid community organizer. She would tell stories of riding the subway with us in strollers and carrying us up three-story walk-ups in her arms.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
In New York, she was both a young mother and an avid community organizer. She would tell stories of riding the subway with us in strollers and carrying us up three-story walk-ups in her arms.
My father and mother were married for 37 years up until his death in 2023. My mother stayed in California only briefly before moving to Queens, New York City, where my father began working as a taxi driver and where my sister and I were born in Astoria.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
My father and mother were married for 37 years up until his death in 2023. My mother stayed in California only briefly before moving to Queens, New York City, where my father began working as a taxi driver and where my sister and I were born in Astoria.
She was the first woman in her family to receive an education and became a role model for her younger sisters, nieces, and others in her village. After completing her education, she entered into an arranged marriage with my father and joined him in California.
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 AM
She was the first woman in her family to receive an education and became a role model for her younger sisters, nieces, and others in her village. After completing her education, she entered into an arranged marriage with my father and joined him in California.