Thanksgiving

I am twenty-one tonight, and tonight, I can write the happiest lines. If I was Egyptian, I would say this is the best birthday gift I could ever get. But I'm not. So, I will say, this is the best birthday gift I could ever get. Because I am like that only. Because I am like that only.

Today, my father posted a status on Facebook. I'll quote part of it here.

Egypt, you brought tears to my eyes today. I'm no longer young, but not yet old ... I'm in that twilight zone where things tend to lose their shine, where laughter and tears don't come easily. But you changed that, even if it's just for a day. Because of you I am beginning to believe that another world may be possible.

My father is fifty-two. I have seen him cry twice. Without meaning any disrespect, I will say he is the greatest sceptic I know. I have never seen him express so much faith in something before. That means a lot to me.

I keep hearing it's going to be another Iran. Or that the military will consolidate its power - which means, again, another dictatorship. I personally think that's bullshit. But even if it's not, it's still much, much better to have tried and failed than to not have tried at all - that's an old one. And after 11th February, it's never going to be a complete failure, ever.

I'm sorry; tonight, my writing is rusty, sentimental, disjointed. But I had to give thanks. For the first time in many, many years. To - even harder to believe - human beings.


Put your hands into the fire.