A Call for Help

Dear Family and Friends,

As I am sure all of you know Lebanon is under fire. And by “fire” I do not only mean rockets, bombs, and disproportionate destruction, I also mean financial hardships, loss of lives, loss of homes, loss of hope, and for many loss of a future.

I have been through the war once before and I have lived its aftermaths. I, and many of my friends, know what it is like to go without and yet we have survived. Now is our chance to help others survive and now is our chance to support our country. While many of us are here in the USA, our hearts and minds and thoughts and prayers are with our families back home; almost all of our families are back home living the war day and night. But this call is not only for our families, it is for the entire community – a community that found itself without the staples of a healthy life.

I am not going to ramble on about who’s at fault in what is going on, and I am not going to list statistics and figures and numbers. I am going to list a few organizations that you can kindly contribute to in order to assist the people of Lebanon.

If I could, I would be on the first rescue/relief ship that would take me back home. But, fate has it that I cannot. Instead, I am establishing my own rescue/relief ship by asking you – dear and loved ones – to send your contributions to Lebanon.

I also urge you to forward this call on to those you love and ask them for their support. We can make a difference.

Blessed are those who care.

Thank you in the name of the people of Lebanon.

(In alphabetical order)

· Hariri Foundation Lebanon Relief Fund. City Bank, Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814. Account number: 24070249. ABA number: 254070116
· Relief Lebanon - International Committee of the Red Cross: http://relieflebanon.org
· Life USA: http://www.lifeusa.org/
· Mercy Corps: http://www.mercycorps.org/
· World Vision: http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=1393763&cmp=EMC-1216210&xxwvCampaign=1216210

The reason I am here...My Mother

someone's grandfather?!?!?!

Rania and Ranya

Think about it -
You meet someone and then you get married. You meet someone and you become friends. You meet someone who was dating your cousin and then they break up, but your friendship doesn't. Then your husbands meet each other. Then, one day, maybe, your children will meet each other.
You meet when you were in college, single, carefree. Your topic of discussion are classes, homework, teachers, boyfriends, going out after school, parents. You celebrate birthdays and meet each other's parents. You grow up - but not apart. Then, you get married - and miss each other's weddings...But you still meet the husbands... And manage to get together as a foursome. Now, you talk about cooking, housework, husbands, and still parents! You now see each when you can, but talk almost always. You continue to grow and celebrate birthdays, but now you do that long-distance. You send birthday gifts and cards by mail - but you stay together...
That, in short, is Rania and Ranya - the blond and the brunette; the sensible and the reckless; the wives.

Signs you are in DC...

Two men...

... one whom I have known since I can remember and one I will never forget. And both finally sharing the same time and space in my life - if only for the span of a few days...