Nature vs. Nurture

Last year I shared my one memory. This year I will share some habits that I have developed over the years only to discover that they run in the family!!

I can eat hundreds of mangoes in a sitting. I love mangoes so much and to the best of my knowledge, dad did love mangoes too. I remember stories of him bring big buckets full of them when he used to come back from work.

I love fishing. Who would have known! I did not think it was the activity for me considering my over the top hyper personality, though for some reason I like it. I was told that dad was quite the fisherman himself, maybe that's why I like it. I guess I just love sitting for hours on end casting my fishing rod. There is a certain peace in this activity. Though, do not take this love to mean that I am a great fisherman, I am pretty lousy. But practice makes perfect they say. So one day I will sail the oceans and bring in a carcase of a shark like in the "old man and the sea".

Nabil

Happy Birthday Baba

Happy Birthday Baba

Last year I wrote about my father, it was big deal for me to break a wall of silence about my missing parent. I find myself thinking about him in a very different light after that post. I think about resurrecting him and bringing him back to life. To trying to tell stories about him and bringing him closer to us as a family. It was interesting to see the reactions from my siblings and my mother. Some of us have made more peace with our histories and for others the scars are still raw.

Well once again it is his birthday today, and my gift to him and to myself on this day is to remember the man that was my father. And to do so publicly and out load because he was buried in silence for far too long.

I will tell a story from my foggy memory to keep your memory alive and to pass it on to my little brother who never really knew you, and to my neices and nephews. One of things I remember quite vividly was you never could eat alone. I remember you coming home tired and sweaty from a hot day’s work in the sun. Coming back to our home in Salwa, Kuwait. I remember a spread of food being laid out for you in the living room on the coffee table in front of the TV. We had all eaten hours earlier, but you would insist that we join you. I realize today that I carry that tradition with me, I will always eat, even if it is just a nibble, with others. A part of me can not let a friend or loved one eat alone. I now know this comes from you , so thank you for a lovely habit.

Happy Birthday, I am glad your memories keep coming back.

Sally Shalabi