Rana is my friend. We know each other for a long time. Yet, we haven’t met in many years. We make each other laugh, share old memories and have the greatest respect for each other. I don’t know her family and she doesn’t know mine.

Facebook is keeping us connected. Every couple of days I see a post from her sharing the love for her family or some exciting trip for work. I don’t even read them all, just capture the essence: Rana is happy.

But Rana is not happy and she posted about it:

I took it for granted that Rana is always happy (aren’t we all on Facebook) and Rana is always here. Why wouldn’t she. We’re living in a connected world and nobody disappears. Sure, there are scary place on this planet but she lives in Canada. Yet, if your birth place could mean your dad fears for your life, something is not right.

As we wait for the chaos to calm down, I am reminded to never apologize for my background, my culture or my religion. That my parents have done their best to teach us to be kind, empathetic, generous, non-judgemental and loving.