People

At 74, My Grandmother Chose to Fly

By Fatima Kemelova on 5 July 2026

At 74, my Rzakul azhe (“azhe” means grandmother in Kazakh) stood on the edge of a mountain, waiting to take off on a paraglider. The instructor checked her harness one last time. I watched her smile, the smile of someone who had waited decades to finally say yes to...