![]() I remember it was in February because my classmates were passing out Valentine’s and I couldn’t eat any because I was fasting. I have a couple of vivid memories from school at Perkett Elementary. My brother and I were the only Muslim, immigrant kids in our elementary school. A memory from third grade inspired me to write my picture book The Arabic Quilt. Even with a population of around 34,000 at the time and brutal winters (my father had to be picked up from home on a snowmobile to get to work once), we still had some great memories from there. ![]() In the mid-1990s, we moved to Minot, North Dakota because of my father’s job. As the years went on, the bus rides stopped as my mom learned to drive, we started school, moved several times, and gained two more siblings. My brother was two and I was one and according to her, we enjoyed these bus rides we met other locals, waved to drivers in their cars, and just enjoyed each others’ company. ![]() ![]() ![]() We lived in New Jersey at the time, and with limited English-speaking skills and no car, my mom would take us on long bus rides with each other to pass time. When my parents, brother, and I moved to the United States from Egypt 31 years ago, we were lonely, as most immigrants are when they arrive. ![]()
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