Tag: Family
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Planning My Wedding 3 Years After Getting Married

Last night I dreamed that it was time for me to walk down the aisle, but I couldn’t find my mascara and I wasn’t ready yet. All the guests were assembled, standing in front of their rows of white chairs on the lawn of the small vineyard, peering around expectantly. In my small dressing room…
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The Bravery of Our Past Selves

And what we’d say if we could send them messages I was going to write about something else today but my self-of-one-year-ago kept popping up so I decided to write about her instead. Raja and I have gone through such a major transition – moving from Jordan to the US – in the last year…
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What We Notice When We Snap Our Laptops Shut

Arlington, MA-January 2023 I spent this past week in DC for work. I flew down Monday evening, so I could go to in-person meetings with colleagues and work from our office in Arlington, VA. I’ve just joined a new project this month; there is so much to be done. The gravitational pull of my work…
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What Immigration Forms Don’t Capture About Love & Marriage

December 2020-Amman, Jordan It is morning again. The sun is mercifully warm enough, for December, when I sit directly in it. There are only two times I can feel warm in a day: when sitting in the morning sun, next to my husband who’s wearing his blue pajamas, looking for Palestine sunbirds out the window,…
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The Story My Mother-In-Law Tells On Repeat

What Alzheimer’s Took From Her – And What It Left Fuheis, Jordan-October 2020 At home in Fuheis, on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, my mother-in-law “Auntie Rula” paces through the dimly lit rooms. In the living room: a loop around the coffee table, stepping carefully over her husband’s feet while he sits on the couch…

–مرحبا سلام Thank you so much, what a lovely comment to receive! I think you’re right; we can’t always be…