Stranded in an airport for 7 months, refugee finds a home thanks to a Canadian stranger

Hassan Al Kontar was stuck. A member of a targeted religious minority, the 37-year-old had fled his native Syria and worked in the United Arab Emirates for several years. When his work permit expired and Syria was still inhospitable to him, he scrambled to find a country that would issue him a visa.

As a Malaysian travel visa was about to expire in March, he readied to board a flight to Ecuador. The flight was delayed, and by the time it was ready, that travel visa had expired. There he was at the Kuala Lumpur airport, terrified to return to his native Syria, unable to find a country that would accept him.

He needed to do something. He created videos of his plight and tweeted them to thousands of followers. He washed in the airport bathrooms, slept under stairwells, and ate whatever leftover airline food generous employees offered him. He crocheted, watered airport plants, and hoped for a savior.

Thousands of miles away in Whistler in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Laurie Cooper was touched by Al Kontar's story. A media relations consultant living in a log cabin, Cooper volunteers with charitable nonprofits and rallied others to the man's cause. They raised over $20,000 to sponsor him, secured him a full-time job offer, and identified close relatives living in Canada. All that effort and leg work for a perfect stranger. 

Despite a number of complications, including Al Kontar's arrest and detention for loitering without a boarding pass, Cooper and friends persevered. Al Kontar was granted asylum in Canada. His saviors were present to greet the thin, unshaven, incredibly grateful man when he arrived in Vancouver this week.

A sixth-grader's thank you kept this serviceman going - and now they've met

During the Vietnam War, John Metzler was a 23-year-old helicopter gunner. He knew that the US was divided on our involvement in the war, and that each day might be his last. 

On Christmas Day 1970, Metzler got a card from a sixth-grader he didn't know. In part, it read, "Dear Serviceman, I want to give my sincere thanks for going over to war to fight for us. The class hopes you will be able to come home." It was signed "DonnaCaye." 

Even though the card wasn't addressed directly to him, Metzler took the girl's thanks personally. Knowing that someone had thanked him for what he was doing made a huge difference in his ability to cope with the stresses of his tour. He kept the note through his tour of duty and brought it home with him. 

For over 40 years, the young girl's words have lived behind a photo of Metzler as a young soldier. Recently, he asked family members to try to find DonnaCaye. They told him they tried, but were not successful.

In truth, they did find her. They flew her from Florida to meet the serviceman at a veteran's event near his Idaho home. You can watch their touching interaction as captured by CBS News. 

Finally!

With a good print copy of The Path Divided in my hands, I can now say - it's done! The kindle version debuted at the #1 spot in its category, which just blows me away. I know many readers waited for the print version to meet my approval, so hopefully they'll all get the word that it's good to go.

Now the marketing and search for reviewers begins in earnest. Fingers crossed, this blog will return to its standard format next week. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

Lessons in patience

I can patiently wait for certain things to happen in their own time - plants to flower, children to grow, Christmas to come. Other things, not so much with the patience. Traffic gridlock. Injustice. Sweet-talking politicians.

And computers.

When the little spinning thing I call the wheel of death tells me to wait while something loads, I ask it - Now what are you doing? Why are you taking so long? Yes, I really say that as my husband will verify.

So imagine my frustration in trying to get the print version of The Path Divided uploaded and ready to go. Inconsistent directions, file errors, and worst of all, a beautiful cover which, when seen on Amazon's thumbnail, looks as if it was covered in fog.

I'm trying hard to be patient as I work to correct these problems and get this project out into the world. I want to share what I've learned with readers, to take their hearts away from people who did wrong and focus on those who try to do what's right. That's what I try to do with all my writing.

Here's hoping I have the patience to make this work!

New release!

The conclusion of the story I began in Risking Exposure will be released this Thursday, November 15th! Historical events included are the Nuremberg Rally, Kristallnacht, and the Kindertransport, all seen through the eyes of my teenage characters.


This amazing cover was created by Michael Rausch.

Have we forgotten?

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass. It was the Nazi's first widespread pogrom of physical aggression against the Jewish people in Germany and its occupied lands. If you want details about how and why it happened, the USHMM website is a marvelous resource.

The government sanctioned the action. People were beaten, arrested, and killed. Synagogues were burned, Torahs were desecrated, businesses were destroyed. Lives were shattered. After Kristallnacht, no one could doubt the Nazi's intentions toward the Jewish people.

In researching my (soon-to-be-released, I promise!) novel, The Path Divided, I interviewed a Jewish woman who lived in Munich in 1938. Her memories of that day are so vivid, I'll just paste them here.

"It happened to be the Yahrzeit of my father’s Mum, I think, so he went to the synagogue that morning. It was actually a little prayer hall as the Nazis had previously destroyed our big synagogue.Someone phoned our flat early on 9 November and told my Mum (who never found out who it was that called) to get out of Munich - they were arresting all Jewish males. My mother told my brother and me not to go to school/college that day and we would find our Dad at the synagogue. But when we got there in our little Opel Olympia car, we saw an SS man standing guard.

"My mum had got out of the car well before we got there and my brother and I saw her talk to this SS chap and then walk away in the opposite direction of the car. My brother, aged 17 who’d never had a driving lesson, bravely drove slowly along the pavement till we caught up with my Mum who indicated that he should drive round the next corner. He did, my Mum got in and, just on the off-chance of finding my Dad in his office, we drove there.

"We saw the shattered glass of Jewish shop windows as we parked the car. My Mum went up and we waited, then my brother went up and after a while they came down. My brother went to his college, my Dad had a valid passport on him and went to his sister in Luxemburg and my Mum and I went to my grandmother’s house.

"My brother came there a bit later as he realised it wasn’t safe for him at his college.

"I never went back to school until I got to England in 1939."

I asked her about the mood in her neighborhood in the days after Kristallnacht. 

"Incredulity and embarrassment on the part of our non-Jewish friends and neighbours. But also a sort of passive acceptance of what the Nazis did."

As the recent shooting in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue shows, antisemitism still exists. My prayer this day is that we NEVER passively accept aggression against ANY group of people.

We must stand against any government or ideology that tries to divide us into US vs THEM. 

WE MUST NEVER FORGET. 

Vote 2018

If you want to do One Right Thing today, Vote. Thousands of people have fought and many have died to give you this ability to voice your opinion. Thank them for their sacrifice by embracing this privilege.

If you think your vote doesn't matter because you're only one voice among millions, vote anyway. Elections are decided by those who show up, not by those who stay home.

Millions of people who live under oppressive regimes wish they could safely express their views on the ballot. They can't. You can. Do it.

Don't know where to vote? Enter your address, and the info is right there. Need a ride to your polling place? Uber and Lyft are offering discounts today and Carpool Vote will arrange a free ride.

Now step away from the computer, put down your phone, and get there.

Texas dad confronts his son's bully, and his heart turns compassionate

Aubrey Fontenot's 8-year-old son Jordan was being bullied at school. Fontenot spoke with school officials about it several times, and from them, got the feeling that the bully himself was in need of help. When the bully stole Jordan's phone, Fontenot had enough.

He contacted the bully's mother and learned the truth: the bully was himself being bullied by other children because he didn't have clean clothes or shoes. The family was homeless and struggling. 

Moved by the family's troubles, Fontenot decided to spend a day with the boy. He took him shopping, and bought him some clothes and shoes. They talked about morals and self-respect, and what it takes to transition from a troubled childhood into a man of character. Fontenot even set up a GoFundMe page to help the homeless family get back on their feet. 

Jordan and his bully met face-to-face at Fontenot's tattoo shop. The boys have reached an understanding, and have even played video games and gone to a Houston Texans game together. Fontenot wants more people to reach out to those who are struggling. As he said, "We all come from different backgrounds but we all share the same goal of success."