Some of the best decisions are those you never needed to make.
Chris and I picked up a family of 5 (but, really 9 - I'll tell you about that later) from the airport on Friday. They'd traveled a long way from home to a new place that didn't promise them anything else but opportunity and safety. The ride from the airport was quiet, but I could tell that this was one of those best decisions. I could tell from the moment Ahmed, the 8-year-old boy, spoke something in Arabic and ran to my car. The translator said, "he wants to ride in your car, not mine haha!" Ahmed was the only one not depleted of energy. It took them three days to travel from Syria to America. But, he didn't care. He wanted the window down so he could look at everything we passed. Once we got them to their apartment, there wasn't much conversation. All we knew was that they wanted a TV. So, a couple of Facebook statuses later, we had two thanks to some good friends! We told them to get some rest and we'd be back with the TV soon.
Fast forward to today. Chris and I got home around 6 o clock, picked up the last of the TVs, and drove out to their apartment. As we drove in, we saw them at the laundry room. No matter - they (even the mom) chased our car all the way home. TV > Laundry, apparently! Chris got their TV hooked up and we sat down for some tea and cookies. Luckily, a man from the next apartment building was with them. He's been here for four years, so he translated. What I'm about to write, I didn't expect to happen.
We talked for almost three hours. We laughed, I cried, and we all understood each other. The mom (Mrs. Mousa) told us about why her husband wasn't with them. She explained that they are Sunni Muslims - about 3 years ago a group of Shiite Muslims kidnapped him. I asked, "So, he was murdered?" She said, "I really don't know what's happened to him". I couldn't help it - my eyes got all watery and i held Chris' knee under the table. She told us about her other three sons left behind in Syria and a daughter still in Iraq (that makes a family of nine!). Two of her sons are scheduled to come over soon. Whatever "soon" means. The guy helping us translate said that could mean two months or two years. The other son chose to cancel his application and start over. He met a woman in Syria and he couldn't stand the thought of leaving her behind. So, they got married. But, the system considers a change in marital status as a void application. Mrs. Mousa told us (in English as best she could), "He said I love you. He has to stay". Again with my tears.
The rest of the time we found things to laugh about. Like, real laughing. The kind that makes your face and belly hurt. She looked at the translator guy (I think his name is Salem... or, something like that) and said a bunch of words. He looked at us and said, "When they get more settled, she wants to cook you a real Iraqi meal! In Iraq, when people eat together, they're family forever". Chris and I looked at each other, and Chris said, "We can't wait!"
We decided around 9 o clock we should probably get home. But, they were sad to see us leave. As we got up, Mrs. Mousa (She has a first name, I just can't pronounce it and, therefore, can't spell it) said something else. Salem said, "she says that she's going to pray every day that you have babies". Perfect! Haha.
The rest of the time we found things to laugh about. Like, real laughing. The kind that makes your face and belly hurt. She looked at the translator guy (I think his name is Salem... or, something like that) and said a bunch of words. He looked at us and said, "When they get more settled, she wants to cook you a real Iraqi meal! In Iraq, when people eat together, they're family forever". Chris and I looked at each other, and Chris said, "We can't wait!"
We decided around 9 o clock we should probably get home. But, they were sad to see us leave. As we got up, Mrs. Mousa (She has a first name, I just can't pronounce it and, therefore, can't spell it) said something else. Salem said, "she says that she's going to pray every day that you have babies". Perfect! Haha.
As we pulled into our garage, Chris turned to me and said, "I couldn't imagine a better way to have spent our evening". It's times like this I fall in love with him all over again. We have the same heart. And we get to do this whole thing together. Every day. Today our hearts were on a holy mission: to sympathize with a family from a completely different world with experiences we couldn't even try to understand, a mission to suspend all judgement and preconceived stereotypes, a mission to genuinely love these people. Man, oh man.
I was only able to take a couple of pictures. And, not everyone is in them (the little kids were playing outside). But, I hope it gives you a better picture of my night : )
A little laughter
and Life Stories.
