When I was four my grandma Hawa (Dad’s mom) died. I have a vivid memory of her on her death bed at a hospital in Tripoli. My dad lifted me up to see her face and then I remember watching him cry on a fence outside.

People who remember her better say we look alike.

I never met either of my grandpas. My dad’s dad Omar was born in 1878 and my mom’s dad died when she was a teen.

I’m lucky because my parents remember and can elaborate.