Me in Panama with Salma, 2007.
Wael Abdelgawad | WaelAbdelgawad.com
At a Muslim community center fundraiser tonight, I listened intently as the speaker (Alaeddin Al-Bakri), who stood at the far end of the hall, spoke about the meaning of the month of Ramadan. The room was roughly segregated, with men on one side and women on the other.
I noticed that a few of the women at the table facing mine were watching me intently. I focused my gaze on the table in front of me, but every time I looked up, the women were staring right at me.
I stopped slouching and sat up straight, thinking that perhaps the women were captivated by my handsomeness. Then common sense returned and I thought, “No, that can’t be it. I know! Maybe they are readers. They’ve read Pieces of a Dream and they enjoyed it and want to tell me so. They’re thinking, there’s the author of that amazing book…”
Then I noticed a few of the men at my own table looking past me. I turned, and – the speaker was being projected on the wall right behind me.
“Who would you impress if the world was blind?”
― Shannon L. Alder