I'm coming home.

There, I said it. After something of a rough and tumble two years in a war-torn, Third World country, I've decided that I miss my family, friends, and Washington Redskins too much to be so far away for another year. Friday night - assuming cooperation from Customs officials at JFK - I'll be back in the muggy climes of Our Nation's ( Read more... )

This was the gospel reading from Mass yesterday. I read it no less than three times to myself, fighting off more and more tears each time.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the ( Read more... )

I believe in signs. Granted, I am terrible at interpreting them and tend to recognize them better in hindsight, but at least I'm open to the nameless, faceless voice of fate. It's a start. Very much in the throes of my pending "stay or go" decision - which has graduated to full-fledged dilemma status at this point - I am trying even harder to stay ( Read more... )

Fatherhood. It came up again last night almost effortlessly. And why not, considering I was carefully balancing twin kindergartners, Rozaline and Arlene, at the time? It was their own father, Ramon, who picked the questions out of the blue. Had I thought of marriage? Had I thought of children, of being a father myself? No doubt, I looked the part ( Read more... )

They grow up so fast, don't they? It's hard for me to imagine that My Kids, a ragtag assortment of five year-old Palestinians, have graduated - of a sorts. But there they were this morning, all sporting golden gowns and blue mortarboards and struggling mightily to stay in line for their procession.

Having already seen their official graduation ( Read more... )

Not too long ago, I was a high school student caught up in a world where the grades at the top of exams and essays were life-or-death affairs. My future - nay, Western Civilization's survival - rested on so many accumulated red numbers in my teacher's ledger. If the numbers stayed high, say, above 80, the Earth would continue to spin on its axis ( Read more... )

Honestly, I couldn't have scripted a better day. Near the top of my list of favorite places to be is at a high school basketball tournament, and it's even sweeter to be there as something of a participant - as a ref and assistant coach, in this case. Who could argue with six hours of wall-to-wall hoops with the best seats in the house? Even with a ( Read more... )

Not a few grisly details have emerged from yesterday's forced-extradition-cum-deadly-gunfight, and they are startling enough to merit an additional review.

Raed is the victim's name, and he was given a clean character reference by my sources, Ayman the neighborhood grocer and his wife. In addition to vouching for Raed's good name, Ayman explained ( Read more... )

It's a little melodramatic to conclude that every "bump" in the night is the an attack from those nefarious Israeli soldiers, so I try to be more measured in my instant analysis these days. Last night, just past 5:00 AM, when the windows rattled and the streets rumbled, I decided that it was just the opening salvo from a storm; we've had plenty of ( Read more... )

At this time last year, I was something of a live wire - frayed at the edges and liable to shock at the slightest touch. Actually, in fairness to my voltage, I was something more akin to the third rail, frying those unlucky enough to fall into my current. In sharp contrast to lab rats, who at least learn their lesson after a few unpleasant zaps, my ( Read more... )