For personal reasons
You might have noticed that the Middle East Messenger kept quiet somehow during the recent weeks. No new posts. The last one was dated November 4th, 2011 – on my birthday. One day before my birthday my father was taken to the hospital. Once again. But this time it was different. Unfortunately, he did not survive this stay in hospital. He died last week.
These last few weeks have been a hard time for me and my familiy. I did not know before how hard it really is, to watch your father die. How defenseless I would feel, how mad I would be at the doctors and nurses who seem – in my opinion – to do something close to nothing to help him.
Despite all my sorrow, pain and my helplessness I still know that I am lucky and should be grateful that I was given the chance to back my father as good as I possibly could and to say goodbye. That does not seem to be naturally to me, the personal, peaceful farewell.
I had to think of the people that do not have the chance to say goodbye to a family member in peace and calm. Especially I had to think of the people who fought and are still fighting for the freedom of their country. I am talking about the bearer of the Arabic Spring. I really admire the courage of those people who pit against the (almost) certain death and fight for a better life. To me these are virtues – to campaign for other people and freedom – that are missing out in our society and which are somehow not appreciated in comparison to the filthy lucre.
It is not only because it is Christmas Time, the time of the year alleged peaceful and familiy-friendly that we should think about what it means to people all over the world not to be as priviledged as we are in the West, but to fight every day for things which are taken for granted in “our world”. I know that is easy to say being in a safe and warm environment. I am not saying I am any better than anybody else. I am just trying to make people think, trying to start a thinking process which lasts longer than and is more sustainable as the reports of the mass media on Fukujima, the floads in Thailand or the atrocities in Syria.
