I came to the US as an immigrant and I recall vividly those first few years in California, the brief time we spent on welfare, and the difficult task of assimilating into a new culture.

Her impulse, her need, to be the corrector of injustices, warden of the downtrodden flock. And

A stubborn ass needs a stubborn driver

She lived in fear of his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies, and sometimes not.

And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.

I’m all you have in this world Mariam, and when I’m gone you’ll have nothing. You ARE nothing!

Life goes on, unmindful of beginning, end…crisis or catharsis, moving forward like a slow, dusty caravan of kochis (nomads).