Watermelon Seeds

I wish you could feel their laughter rumble in your belly and basque in the warmth of their smiles. I wish you could experience their rich culture, vibrant traditions, and dazzling dishes. I wish you could understand the peace they carry in their hearts, despite all the hardships, years of oppression, and loss they have endured. I wish you could see the glimmer of hope they have in their eyes for a better tomorrow. I wish you could appreciate the breadth of their generosity and kindness. I wish you could see them for the resilient dreamers that they are.

I have been fortunate enough to see, and feel, and experience all of this firsthand. I have visited far away lands, been embraced with open arms by a family whose own family - on paper at least - perhaps shouldn't embrace me so freely and so lovingly. I have cried in the kitchen with my mother-in-law while making Manakish and Mulukhiya. I have attended Arabic weddings where the drums erupted with joy and people - young and old - danced and wrapped their arms around one another, strangers turned to friends in an instant. I have gone behind the counter to make bread with a baker I just met. I have become fast friends with a Jordanian man who will forever feel like a brother to me and whose hugs I miss each and every day. I have felt the love and the peace in their hearts, and it is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.

These experiences and wishes I have for you may never come true, as the moral thread of our society unravels more and more with every day that turns to night. You may never get to meet these resilient dreamers, or basque in the warmth of their smiles, or immerse yourself in all the beauty and resilience that is the Palestinian culture due to what is happening today - miles and oceans away - right in front of our eyes. This loss has shattered my heart into pieces - into two million watermelon seeds.

After all that I have seen - through this tiny screen - I am not yet sure that I'll be able to reconstruct my heart to what it once was. The loss of thousands upon thousands of resilient dreamers and these beloved wishes I have for you weighs far too heavy on my shattered, tattered heart.