(This post was written over a two day period, so mind the timeline)
I was surprised when my mother told me that my father was coming last night. He’s been out of town for 19 days, his planned visits being cancelled and postponed alternatively every few days. In these 19 peak-summer days, dad has missed weddings, gatherings, dinner outings with family friends, and Friday lunches.
Then this morning as I was driving to the office, it hit me why my dad is here this particular weekend. Tomorrow is the one day a year alongside the day of mother’s birthday that my dad never misses coming home for: the 30th of August is my parents’ anniversary.
My parents met at the wedding of my mother’s friend, Raeda, who coincidentally happened to be my father’s niece. Both in charge of refreshments at that wedding, my parents got married a year later.
Today, it’s been 23 years, 22 of which I’ve personally enjoyed with them. These years were full of lots of love, lots of happiness, and lots of the most wonderful memories. I really do not think that anyone in the world could have had a childhood as amazing as mine. My parents made sure it was both fun and fulfilling. They were supportive and encouraged our personal endeavors and experimentations. Thet let us grow as individuals in whichever direction we felt like growing, and in that way, they cemented our bond as a family. They have made our life truly perfect.
Happy anniversary Mama & Baba. May there be many more happy ones to come. We love you.
August 29, 2007 at 12:18 pm
· Filed under Art, Roba
This video, done in early February, was supposed to be cut into segments and posted consecutively on Wednesdays, but the stream of life continued and not much nagging was done. In May, the issue that Wednesday nagging revolved around came to a much anticipated end.
Today, when I look at this video, I just smile. It’s amazing how the days always manage to pass, no matter how slowly, no matter how quickly. They always pass. There’s always something else to wait for.
Even with all my probably-unnecessary attempts at trying to find the brightest side in everything, two issues that are visually constantly springing up have been bothering me.
All the closed chicken shawerma stands around town, for one; in the peak of the summer season, with all the tourists in town, with schools and universities off, when the whole country is summery and is in the “going out mood”. I do not eat chicken, and so my thoughts do not arise because I miss it. I just wonder how many thousands of JDs that made up the direct and indirect incomes of how many thousands of Jordanians have been lost in the past several weeks. How fair is it to collectively punish so many people because of one person’s mistake? I understand that health is an extremely important issue, but I do not think that the issue was handled correctly or justly.
Today, while discussing this topic with a friend, he mentions that he thinks that the main problem was actually the hospital that dealt with the salmonella outbreak than the shawerma vendors themselves. I also agree very much with Khalaf, maybe they should prevent people from drinking water. And maybe they should not allow people to sell liquorice juice on the streets downtown. And maybe they should ban corn on the cob in the little carriages.
The other issue upsetting me is that of ATV. Their ads anticipating their launch on August 1st still cover many billboards around town. They are still in the August issues of most local magazines. It is almost September, and the channel is still not on air. I guess the audio-visual commission keeps asking for more paperwork. Or something.
