Love Happens

In my life of so little action, I find myself falling into deep depressions all the time, these depressions usually end with events that bring in memories, nice and happy thoughts, people and years of accumulated misbehavior. Today I found myself watching a movie that I never thought I’d watch, while laying down feeling sorry for myself, caring so little about what was on TV, I flickered channel by channel, News (too sad), soap opera (too cheesy), shopping channel (too boring), until I bumped into this movie (Love happens) staring Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston, it was neither the actors nor the title that caught me, it was the movie theme, the atmosphere and the lights, the very shady lights that made me stop and give it a try, thinking it will suit my mood. At first looking at that man with his pencil cut suit, waiting at the airport, I was expecting a very mediocre product with next to little meaning, and then I started paying attention to the details of that man, walking up the stairs instead of the elevator, he probably has some sort of phobia, the look of worry and the iced glass of liquor, and then boom, he’s on stage selling his self coping book, the story was about him, his grief, and denial. A man that has lost his wife and refuses to go through the suffering, and writes a book about how to cope with loss, he helps others deal with their suffering, and he can’t even deal with his, "what a whole lot of Crap" I thought until a woman shows up in front of him, a cliché I know, because there is always a woman, she challenges him and makes him his own success story, I honestly cried when I watched the end, not because the story got into deep, but because I could relate. I wanted to help someone get over the grief of his loss, but I failed, I couldn't get him to take the wedding ring off of his finger.

     

its so weird now that I think about it, I've known him for so long yet I didn't know him much. 

I miss you OJ 

A LETTER TO THE FRONT.

I wake up in the morning, I didn’t sleep at all.

Thinking of that one person who went to give his soul.

For the sake of a nation that died on the go.

On the hands of a cruel being that didn’t have a soul.

I love you to the end of days. I am waiting at my door.

You’re the pride of my world I wrote it in a note.

You will read it in this letter, a letter to the front.

A LETTER TO THE FRONT.

…………………………………………..

Surrounded by your fellows, you’re fighting for a cause. 

[Freedom that is] and you won’t let it go.

Surrendering is not an option; was one thing you said.

I think about it over and over while laying in my bed.

I scream it to the air; I want it all to end

I want to see my hero, I want to smile again.

Through the fear and pain, the strength is our bond.

I wrote it in this letter A LETTER TO THE FRONT.

……………………………………………………………………….

With the heart of a lion and the angels soul

The world called you fighter and I called you my all.

I wasn’t in the battle field but my heart was there.

He wanted me to be strong but it’s no longer fair

You never thought you’ll live to see us free.

This is the last thing you sent to me.

My heart bleeds with grief, dear Allah please stop this tear.

In a way you were right, you ended your fight.

Now I’ll live and be knowing that you’ll watch over me.

Faithfull to our bond without A LETTER TO THE FRONT. 

The Bridges of Madison County

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 

There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 

There is society, where none intrudes, 

By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 

I love not man the less, but Nature more, 

From these our interviews, in which I steal 

From all I may be, or have been before, 

To mingle with the Universe, and feel 

What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

- byron

A big thank you to my Dearest Max

Dear All, 

I am dedicating this note to a dear friend of mine, the kindest, most generous person I have ever laid eyes on, I can't believe we have known each other for over 20 years now, a life time I know, yes we have lost eachother in the middle, but it feels so good to find a precious thing after losing it for so long, today he became my 3rd brother, through out the darkest moments of my life, he showed me a ray of light, I wasn't ashameded to share with him my darkest fears and sorrows. 

He fought with his words making others understand our case as Libyans, he kept an open mind and heart, sharing our stories with the world he knows.   

I am proud of my love towards him, I am proud to call him best friend and mostly I am proud to call him BROTHER :)

Max this is for you :)

"I could skip a heartbeat, and I would survive,

I could be in a car crash, and still be alive.

The clouds could fall out of the sky, 

The oceans could disappear, and all turn dry.

These things in life are all bad I know, 

but there's far worse things, 

just thought you should know. 

Life would not be the same without someone like you,

You're there when I need you to help me through.

Through the good times and through the bad,

Be them happy, or be them sad.

I don't have to be with you, to know you're there,

We don't have to see each other, to know that we care.

We could be apart for years upon end,

and still remain the best of friends.

Life goes on, and people change,

And through it all, our friendship shall remain the same.

That's such as a life, and how things come to be.

Just thought you should know,

HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME"

Through Thick And Thin

Annie Hall

A Real Mafia Story ....

On March 10th, 3 armed cars forced the entry gate of our family house, 12 armed militaries threatened my brother and searched our house from top to bottom, as if they were searching a criminals house, and took all laptops, PCs, Iphones, cellphones and Internet connection devices, the only cellphone that survived was my mothers (who thankfully wasn't home) and that was our only mean of communication with the outside world, but on top of it they took my yonger brother of 26 YO and asked for the other yonger one of 24 YO, with neither a search warrent nor a clear accusation. During that day they shot a few gunshots around the house to terrorise the family and the neighborhood, meanwhile they had my other brother called by one of his friends who betrayed him and set him up so that he can be captured.

The only crime my brothers commited was joining the protests unarmed after the sacred Friday Prayer, and they were faced with all kind of weapons, and almost died.

I haven't seen my 2 brothers since that day, we only received some anonymous phone calls with messages from my brothers saying that they are fine, 2 and a half months later an old man of 58 YO came to visit, he said that he met my 26 YO brother and that he was NOW fine, but at first during the interrogations sessions; they had to handle all kind of torture, from starvation, to nail pulling and electroshock, that really broke my heart in two, and made me feel so helpless, not knowing what to do.

Afew days before I left an other phone call, again saying that they were fine, but during that one; we dared asking, why it is taking so long for them to be released? and the voice on the other end said " because they refused to lie and decided to tell the truth and face the fire"  through out all my sadness, I felt proud of my two big heroes, who decided that their lives didn't matter in front of the greater good, they are doing their part, and helping make history.

When the round of raping started, and 118 women were kidnaped from our area, I had to save the ladies of the house, and with the help of some friends, I was able to get some falsified  documents to get to Tunis, after passing 40 Military road blocks, lots of searching and lots of praying, I finally arrived...

I wouldn't wish for anyone to go through what I went through, I really want every one to include me and my people in their prayers, and hopefully this will end soon.

During my stay in Tunis, a Taxi driver told me about some Libyan guys being treated in some Tunisian clinics, so I went to visit to show my great appreciation towards what they did for us, and what I saw made me rethink on the real meaning of life, I saw young men, as young as 14 YO with no arms and no legs, severe burns, and brain damage, what did they do to deserve this? They had all their future in front of them and because of one selfish family they found themselves in this situation. 

I promised them to do what ever is in my power to help them have a better future, I started contacting people that I know and others that I am sure would want to help, and if anyone wants to help me help them, please send me a private message, and I will fill you in on my Heroes Project, for you to see in which way you can contribute.

Thank you all

Pray for us and keep the faith,

MB

Relationships ...

It is so strange how relationships ends, family can go apart, long  childhood friends move in different paths, loved ones just disappear, naturally or by choice, I know a story of 5 good friends, grew up together, studied and worked together 2 of them even got married to each other,  until one day everything changed, one decided to just leave and go for something that all his friends knew it wasn’t good for him but he just wanted to leave because he felt strongly good about it, his friends tried to be supportive and decided to let him go, he just then disappeared for long years.

They became four, until one of them was diagnosed with cancer and started her own straggle, the other three were on her side for as long as her straggle lasted, they only left her bed when she left, she died a hero, because she fought that monster until she didn’t have enough strength to fight no more, the remaining three were so devastated and broken that stopped talking to each other, each one of them started living in his own world, they all miss each other, but life was just to tough on them, they don’t know themselves or one another anymore.

One very beautiful day, the sun was shining and the fresh breeze of spring  was breath taking, the three friends all receive a letter asking them to show up at an official office at a certain time, they found themselves together once again after so long, the questioning faces for the reason why were so frightened, why would they meet up again, and in this place, a Gentlemen asks them to come together in his office, and he finally decided to start talking and said, Mr. SO and SO, has identified you as his next of kin, together with another lady that we weren't able to reach, I am sorry but Mr. SO and SO died a hero and he wanted us to deliver these letters to you, the shocked faces took the envelops and started reading, the same letter was written all of them in a very shaky hand writing, and this is what it says:

“ Hi Geeks,

If you are reading this letter, that only means that I am no longer in this world, I hope at least I died honorably, I know I disappointed you when I went to war, during the process I even disappointed myself, I didn’t realize that I did a mistake until it was too late, I left you and never got the chance to say what I wanted to all of you.

Sorry; sorry for not being there to hold your hands in hard times, I am sorry I wasn’t there to hug you when you cried, I am sorry I didn’t share my feelings towards you, I am sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain why you didn’t want me to go, I am sorry I lost my friends.

Love; I loved the fact that we knew each other when we were just little kids with no worry in the world, I love that we accepted our ugliness before becoming beautiful, I love that we always agreed not to agree, I loved the times I was forced to watch a chick flick just to make the ladies happy, I loved the home made meals that were tasteless but made with love, I loved the time I broke my nose being stupid and wrestling a bigger guy, I love you guys.

Bless; I was blessed to have a doctor as a friend that could fix my nose, I was blessed to have 2 of my best friends getting married, I was blessed to have a Chef in my life with a full fridge all the time,  I was blessed to have you in my life.

Goodbye; I am going now, I don’t yet know where but I am sure I will see you again someday, I hope not soon but you must let go too, and know that I will be waiting for you as long as it takes, I will be there”

No matter where we are or what we do, Love is the only thing that has the power to keep us together or apart, always give it a chance and remember life is too short, love, live and hope for blessings, don’t be afraid to say I am sorry, you might not get another chance.

MB

Mistreatment of Expat Employees in Dubai

So here is the story, yesterday I went to my guitar class at around 1800hrs, and on my  walking way to the center, I started hearing laud screaming / yelling voices, and when I arrived I saw this tall blonde lady screaming at one of the center’s front desk ladies, and since everyone was letting her do her yelling, screaming and throwing of files all over the place, I automatically assumed that she was the owner or the manager, or some higher power, she was yelling in such a non- professional way at that girl, who was Asian, I would say Philippino, well she was just standing there, with her eyes on the ground, she looked so helpless, I felt so sorry and so afraid, the second front desk lady saw me and came to me apologizing and explaining that it is holiday and the teacher won’t come (silly me thought that the teacher would be there even during the last week of the year), on the back ground there was still that screaming oh my God, it was the loudest I have ever heard, I walked back home and the sound of the yelling question ringing in my head “ ANSWER MY QUESTION” . I thought to myself, whatever that girl did, shouldn’t have turn on that kind of behavior from the higher power, no one deserves to be humiliated or treated that way,  whatever happened can be solved, the only thing in this life that cannot be taken back is death, and I am sure that, that girl didn’t kill anybody.

Well this whole story made me think of one thing, we are all expatriates in this country, are we all risking to have such a treatment if one day we make a mistake?  Will we be discriminated for holding a different nationality? Will we always be the outsiders, the infiltrated and the others? Will we have all our rights protected? There will be always a higher power over everyone, will this higher power be fair or unfair? Will it be humanitarian and caring about the next, or not?

Is there a law that protects me and you, that we are not aware of?

MB