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