it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.

Attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun.

You say their stories, it is gift they give you.

When I was in Afghanistan in 2007, I went from village to village where refugees had returned, and they were living out in the open under tents, sometimes completely exposed to the environment. And they were homeless, which meant they would lose children in the winter to the cold and in the summers in the extreme heat. It's extremely humiliating for them to be homeless, culturally it's very shameful.

I brought Hassan’s son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty

The short of it is, as an aspiring writer, there is nothing as damaging to your credibility as saying that you don't like to read.

You don't order someone to polish your shoes one day and call them 'sister' the next.