As I listened to Donald J. Trump’s “America First” inaugural speech on NPR, I was struck by a conversation I had had with my Afghan daughter before she departed for a semester in Rome the day before the inauguration.
A junior on scholarship at a prestigious liberal arts college in New England, Sabira is doing what most juniors do, going abroad. Keenly aware of how fortunate she is, she left for JFK International Airport in a state of disbelief that this was actually happening. An economics major and Arabic minor, she does nothing but study and earn money as a Residential Advisor, and the result is that she made the Dean’s List for the fall semester.
I should clarify: she is not actually my daughter, as she has loving parents back home in Kabul. I am her legal guardian, and have been for five years, while she is studying in the U.S. Close friends were so taken with her that they are sponsoring her younger sister, Zohra, who goes to boarding school in Connecticut. Other friends in our circle are now making plans to bring her younger brother here, provided the boarding school is as generous with him as they have been with his sister. It seems likely, given the way this family impresses people. A third sister, Nahida, is in the U.S. through a nonprofit devoted to educating Afghan girls, and this past Christmas, all three sisters slept in one queen bed at my home in Connecticut. The head of Zohra’s boarding school said that she is an example of sheer determination and hard work for the other students, many of them international. She got all As the past semester, despite the language challenges. And Nahida placed for her Oregon boarding school in a national science competition.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 60-utgaven av Weston Magazine.
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Chicken Mcmansions
There’s nothing like fresh eggs. I know because our cook used three of them in my Camembert omelet this morning.
Hamptons International Film Festival's Silver Anniversary
LIGHTS! Camera! Action! It’s hard to believe the Hamptons International Film Festival (off this) is celebrating a quarter century of showcasing great works in film.
A Medal Of Honor For Sargent William Shemin…a Century Long Odyssey
I am in the east room of the White House on June 2, 2015 for what is turning out to be the most amazing family reunion I could ever have imagined.
Breaking The Fourth And Fifth Wall
Dear Evan Hansen began as a germ of an idea about the yearning for a connection with others; co-lyricist and writer Benj Pasek was considering the embellished ties his teenaged peers had to a suspected victim of suicide.
The Heirs
Eleanor belonged to that class of New Yorker whose bloodlines were traced in the manner of racehorses: she was Phipps (sire) out of Deering (dam), by Livingston (sire’s dam) and Porter (dam’s dam).
One Atlantic Events
Over the ocean, your perfect special event venue is waiting.
Scott Swimming Pools
Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. is a luxury design-build swimming pool company celebrating its 80th year in business this year.
Is Marijuana The New Ambien?
Science and anecdote in the quest for better sleep
Black Edge
The Fall of SAC Capital.
Brain Fitness - It's All In Your Mind
Frozen in mid-sentence, you forget a name. With your pen poised over a check, you cannot recall the date. You’ve gone into the kitchen, but you can no longer remember what for. And where is that damned cell phone? Are you one of the worried well? Many of us are anxious to live a long life, but fearful of our potential for the humiliation and debilitation of dementia. What to do? Should you try a computer game? Magnesium tablets? A week at an expensive brain training center? Brain fitness is the new buzzword and wealthy aging baby boomers are eager to buy a healthier brain.
