This is a lovely story by a lovely baby boomer from San Antonio, Texas, named Naomi Shihab Nye. It’s about a world that has receded away from us, but as she found out firsthand, not entirely. At least not at Gate 4-A.
Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been detained four hours, I heard an announcement: “If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.”
Well – one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.
Naomi Shihab Nye
An older woman in full traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly. “Help,” said the Flight Agent. “Talk to her. What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be late and she did this.”
I stooped to put my arm around the woman and spoke to her haltingly. “Shu dow-a, Shu-bid-uck Habibti? Stani schway, Min fadlick, Shu-bit-se-wee?” The minute she heard any words she knew, however poorly used, she stopped crying.
She thought the flight had been cancelled entirely. She needed to be in El Paso for major medical treatment the next day. I said, “You’re fine, you’ll get there, who is picking you up? Let’s call him.” We called her son, I spoke with him in English. I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and ride next to her.
She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for fun. Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends. Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian poets I know and let them chat with her?
This all took up about two hours. She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life, patting my knee, answering questions. She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies – little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts – out of her bag – and was offering them to all the women at the gate. To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the mom from California, the lovely woman from Laredo – we were all covered with the same powdered sugar. And smiling. There is no better cookie.
Carrying stories worldwide: Naomi Shihab Nye (center) with children of the American Community School in Abu Dhabi.
And then the airline broke out free apple juice from huge coolers and two little girls from our flight ran around serving it and they were covered with powdered sugar too. And I noticed my new best friend – by now we were holding hands – had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing, with green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere. And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought, this is the world I want to live in. The shared world. Not a single person in that gate – once the crying of confusion stopped – seemed apprehensive about any other person. They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too. This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.
With permission, BoomerCafé is publishing and reprinting this story from Naomi Shihab Nye’s book of poems and short prose, Honeybee: Poems & Short Prose
Thank you for sharing. In these days of confusion, insensitivity and sorrow, it is heartwarming to know that when all is said and done, we are after all just people.
This was a great story. I loved it, even the part about the plant. There is so much wisdom hidden in other cultures. Many physicians believe that too many people are disconnected from the earth, never touching grass or dirt with their bare skin. Those physicians believe many of us are subsequently electron deficient, and that deficiency leads to inflammation and poor healing. So, think of this wise lady and her plant. Stay rooted. Take off your shoes and walk on the grass, the sand, or the dirt. You will not feel the rush of electrons into the soles of your feet, but your body and soul will appreciate it. Just like you appreciated this wonderful story!
What a lovely story to share with us all! Finally some good news about humanity.
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story.
Lovely story, and well told.