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the weight of things

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drew this as a waking moment,  just quick,  like they are…no thought,  really   how it often begins with the bridge of the nose and over to an eye and the angle was there.    Went on with things,   to come back later and listen to NPR's Leila Fadel's conversation with a mother in Turkey,   no where to go.   and i think about all my concerns………………………..

All the mothers there.  old ones   young.  

Assalah Shikhani  fled Syria 12 years ago and became a teacher in Turkey at a school for Syrian refugees run by Karam Foundation.  Fadel asked what she would tell the world…. paraphrase        anything.  anything to help. even just to pray for us. 

the tag was photographed on a page of this months  National Geographic.

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11 responses to “the weight of things”

  1. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    There are no words. I sit and watch and listen to stories. I do a quick search for my daughters childhood friend who moved back to Syria. I think of my dad’s people, who came from Istanbul. And i think of the mothers, children & fathers…the families…the syndrome of dying after one is rescued, once the weight is released. I think about that. I sit with this while on the bottom floor of a 3 story building and consider earthquakes in CA.
    The weight of that.

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  2. Peggy McG Avatar
    Peggy McG

    Your drawings hold weight and emotion. I feel so spoiled to not personally know the weight so many must endure. I choose my nomad lifestyle, many are forced into it. I feel good when I can donate to a ‘“free” pile extra blankets, winter footwear, etc… and to participate in gatherings that help to donate to the foodbanks or give scholarships to local schools. I love that you still get National Geographic!

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  3. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Turkey holds a special place in the history of our family; it is where my daughter met her husband, when both were teaching in Istanbul.
    So many images of unbelievable sadness, despair, destruction and glimmers of hope when someone is found alive. The baby born under the rubble while the mother died; a brother and sister found together under the rubble. In Syria, a son and his elderly mother; the father and his fifteen yr old daughter, photos of them in happier times, presented next to a photo of him now, sitting on the ground, near her dead body, not leaving, holding her hand.
    The weight of it all: we lived through the Loma Preita earthquake in 1989, not knowing if our daughters were safe or injured after the earthquake. They were attending San Francisco State University living in Verducci Hall, the 16 floor dorm at the college..The dorm suffered massive structural damage and was closed following the quake and demolished ten years later. Thankfully our girls were ok and they and a friend came home to stay for a while until it was deemed safe to return.
    Mothers, Fathers, Family, friends- in those anguishing moments, the weight of waiting is crushing…my heart breaks for all in Turkey and Syria.
    https://abcnews.go.com/US/earthquake-victims-turkey-syria/story?id=96948818

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  4. jude Avatar
    jude

    the man’s birth city is no more.

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  5. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    I have a co-worker from Turkey. Her child’s father has lost a lot of his family. I think of this, how it is true for so many…

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  6. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    it’s so so
    much

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  7. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i love how you have chosen to live…you know that. it would be me if not for this.
    the National Geo’s…my “father”. i will subscribe
    forever. These are going to Emrie’s school once i
    read through.

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  8. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    the weight of waiting…yes. the weight of waiting.

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    a city gone…, i hold the thought of that

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    tell her love from me if it is appropriate

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  11. Liz A Avatar
    Liz A

    watching buildings fall to the ground, I couldn’t help but think of the World Trade Center … multiplied thousands of times over … listened to a doctor on NPR who, when asked, reported his wife and children were fine, but that he had lost many others … and still he keeps working, even as he wonders where the much-needed help is and when it will be coming

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