I hate it when people take things for granted

He doesn’t want to die in a country that’s not his

My dad came illegally to the U.S.  He went through the whole process of, you know, getting his papers done and all that.  And eventually he ended up getting them.  And that’s how he helped us get here.  Now, with all of us being citizens and only my dad not being a citizen, sort of [...]

Somewhere better

I came from Mexico, obviously.  My family has been there for the entire time.  My dad was actually here for roughly eighteen years before us.  He used to visit us every year.  He was working here.  I was with my mom, my other two sisters—one of my sisters was really sick so that’s one of [...]

And that was how we moved to Great Neck. It was a mistake.

I think there was a draw to the United States. I think my grandfather liked a lot of things about the United States and saw it as being a land of opportunity, saw it as being the new world, a place where everybody can go. The fact that it was becoming a dream [...]

The bald eagle tattoo

My father was born in Barbados. He came over to the States when he was sixteen, to go to high school. My grandmother, his mom, had already been in the US since he was about eight. I loved hearing stories from him about how different life was back then and how the [...]

In 1978 “Iraq” didn’t mean anything to anyone.

In 1980 or so, we received this influx of Iranian Jews who were fleeing right after the ’79 revolution. I remember playing basketball with my friend Albert, who was also of Iraqi descent, and we were beaten by the Iranian kids we were playing. So we said, “You beat us in basketball, but [...]

Cracking the code

My mother was very aware as a kid that her mother was ill. My grandmother was sick her whole life. She knew that her mother was not well, and she knew that if she wanted to understand what was happening she’s have to crack the code, because every time something was wrong, my [...]

Long lost family members

My extended family is small. I have three cousins on each side.  When I was little all our families lived in the same city and we would frequently visit each other.  Eventually we all moved, out to the suburbs or to another state because of job offers.  At first it just meant a longer commute [...]

The last connection to Baghdad

My grandfather and my grandmother’s brother all left Iraq within years of each other. I don’t think too many people in my family lingered on past 1950. They were all connected and if one member of the family was being exiled, then the entire family and its extensions were also threatened. My [...]

Russia, no, I never felt at home there.

People ask me this if there’s anything I miss about Russia. The only two things—I don’t miss them, but they were good—caviar and chocolate. But you can get caviar and chocolate from Russia abroad. I think nostalgia is a feeling that people get when they’re not culturally very comfortable in a place. [...]