Camille photography by Atisha Paulson in Manhattan
I love the way he speaks, acts, writes, & most of all how he checks up on me to see if all is well and tells me little things about himself that I find so very interesting. I wish I could explain this feeling to all of you but I can only try for wishing is meant for fairy tales and although this feels like one to me it surely isn’t.
My mother’s thirty six and my father’s forty seven, he’s eleven years older than her and it may sound like an over whelming gap, it is the number one reason they’ve stayed married for so long. My father was a travel merchant for Europe, Africa, and the UAE. He was wealthy by his twenty second birthday and by the time he was thirty one he was considered one of the most successful business men, his social status and education level landed him a seat in senate for Somalia, he was a personal advisor for the president and was considered the voice of the people. My mother fell for his vast knowledge and ability to win over the heart of any person far before she fell for his looks or wealth.
My mother has always been humble, her father was a wealthy man who owned a chain of five star restaurants. Money was her least concern, she loved to teach children and became an elementary school teacher. She was a romantic and believed that love had enough power to destroy hate, she was considered a “hippie”. Everyone see’s bits of her in me and I must agree, I too am a romantic.
I hate valentines day but this year I was alone and so I sent my parents on a date and you should have seen the look on their faces. They were more than happy because they secretly wanted to go out but were unable to find anyone to baby sit the five year old. I gladly took on that responsibility for I was a lone and the dreaded love bug missed me, When they returned they said, “Leilah, you’re the only one out of your six siblings who’d do that.” I was satisfied with that complement, the feeling I received that night was unmatched until I started to communicate with my favorite photographer/artist, I continue to get this smile every time I receive a msg from him.
