It just can't get better than this...

The moment that takes your breath away...
Untainted, innocent and pure.

When you're studying for a mid-term and your 6 year old sister kisses you on the cheek -out of the blue- then heads off to grab her Strawberry Shortcake coloring book from the bookshelf.

When your eyes fill with tears as you listen to your Christian Filipino maid announce her Shahada for the first time in the local mosque.

When you gaze from the balcony and see your teenage brother place a bowl of water on the staircase for the chirping pigeons on the patio, in the heat of the never-ending Jeddah summer.

When you're chatting with your best friend reminiscing the good old "high-school" days, the atmosphere in the room filled with warmth defying the bellowing winds of Riyadh's winter outside.

When you pray with devotion to Allah on the night of your General Medicine final exam that you'll do great the next day, the calmness that envelopes you knowing that only He can hear your supplications, however versatile they may be.

When you're awake at that un-earthly hour of dawn, it seems as if the whole city is asleep and all your dreams are achievable, all impossibles are possible.

When you quench your thirst with the cool water of Zamzam after performing Ummrah under the stubborn sunrays at noon.

When you catch the spark of pride in your parents' eyes, no words are even necessary.

These moments I live for.
These moments I cherish.

Perfect..yeah right.

You know that age when you're 12 and you look at college girls and think
"Wow, they know everything"
"They can do everything perfectly"
"Nobody tells them to "Grow up and stop acting like a baby"

Well guess what?

We don't know that much..
And doing something flawlessly is only if it involves a box of ready-made Betty Crocker Brownies..

I gaze at my 12 year old cousin and think
"She can do all the mistakes she wants"
"Nobody tells her that "You should know better, you're a grown-up"

Tis a pity.. tis true..

So many wars with unknown heroes...
So many sacrifices forgotten...

A dozen researchers make a revolutionary discovery yet are hidden in the phrase "et. al"

Months of work done behind the curtains... yet only the actors get the applaud..

A 5- hour surgery ends with success yet only the chief doctor is thanked.. forgetting the crew of nurses in the same OR...

Recognition can make a WORLD of a difference!

What could've happened?

I'm always prevented from flying by fear that gravity will bring me down..

Have you ever thought of all the possible "What if's" in your life?
I have.. alot..

What if I had said what was on my mind instead of holding my temper.. and replacing my snarl with a frosty smile?
Perhaps lost a friend..

What if I had pressed "post" on that harsh comment in my facebook status.. instead of pressing delete?
Most likely gained an enemy..

What if didn't "edit" that email and substitute my unsympathetic words with politer synonyms?

What if I spoke up when I had the chance?

What if I ignored my common sense and followed my heart?

What if I had said "Yes"?

A night of many nights..

Snug and comfy in my Penn State sweatshirt...

From my balcony I am watching the world go by... a mother walking home from the supermarket.. a bored teenager kicks a Pepsi can on his way to the Cafe...

The night air smells like the sea.. memories float.. palm trees whisper.. a mischievous giggle can be heard if you listen carefully...

A sudden change in the atmosphere...

I realize that I am now witnessing time rewind...

The world is walking backwards.. and I'm peeking through a mouse hole...

Could that handsome gentleman racing his peers without a care in the world.. be our cranky old neighbor.. who pokes the young boys with his cane heading to Asar prayer?

Could those two youthful girls playing marbles in their floral jalabiyah's with colors defying all laws of fashion.. possibly be the old maids living in the huge villa at the the corner of the street.. mentally noting every neighborhood activity to gossip about it later on over their routine cup of tea...

Could that bashful lady carrying a tray of Arabic coffee across the yard with her long braid swinging down her back.. perhaps be my grandmother?
If I could only see her dimples..!

And like the curiosity that killed the cat..

I am back in year 2010.. with all my never-ending worldly issues..
From Iceland's volcano to my Oral Biology exam Wednesday morning...

*******
Isha prayer rings in the sky...
Young boys beware of a poke in the gut by Amo Ahmad's walking cane..

Ah! How he used to run!

Starbucks, Tim Horton's and House of Doughnuts

A cappucino on my way to the clinics.. need all the energy for the huge amount of calculus I'm removing...

A hot chocolate mellows me down after my prosthodontist professor completely humiliated me in front of my patient...

A cup of tea as I sit in the fifth row in the classroom while the professor rants about the criteria of teeth selection in a complete denture...
"Remember girls.. three very important factors: Hue, Chroma, and Value.. these help us choose the exact color of the teeth"

Sigh.. I've reached the milky way, heading off to Mars...
I hope the glazed doughnuts haven't finished by the end of the lecture...

Solitary

What if the heart can't stop loving?

What if it tried hatred, indifference, and numbness but nothing works?

What if love is the only hat that fits..
the only medicine that cures..
the only key that opens?

What if love has becomed a curse you're doomed to endure a lifetime?