I visited Ed this afternoon, as I often do and I found him tired and,I thought, weakening. He said his mind is clear, he is feeling no pain, and he hopes to be walking some by the end of the week. He said he is not afraid of death, he most fears a weakening of the will, thus causing the cancer to run away with his body.
As always, Ed was honest and thoughtful about the illness that is chewing up his body.
I asked Ed several times if he wished to do a video today and he said he did, even though he acknowledged that he is tiring.
His strong mind is his most powerful weapon now, I think, and he is using it every minute.
We had to badger Lisa to stop her from getting clothes for her sons, and getting something for herself. She confided softly that she badly needed some new shoes, and we took her to the shoe section at Wal-Mart where she chose some slip-on shoes – her sons brought her shoes they liked – and she tried them on right on the floor.
Once we knew her size, we bought three pairs of shoes for her. The most expensive was $9.98. Lisa said she has not had a new pair of shoes for six or seven years. She is 27 years old.
Lisa usually will only smile when she thinks of her late husband, killed by a roadside bomb while driving food to American soldiers. She says he made them all smile, and it is hard for her to smile now. She did smile a few times when she saw how happy her sons were with the toys and clothes they got.
This, Ali and I know, will help them tremendously in school, where American kids place a great value on clothes, and they have been taunting Baseer and Mudasir because they wear the same old clothes again and again.
Mudasir and I played hide and seek while Ali and Lisa and Baseer looked for towels. The cart was stuffed with toys and clothes and housewares, including a big new and urgently needed trash can.
it was a scorchingly hot day, inside and out of the store, and we all went as long as we could. We had to stop, I was soaked in sweat and worn out. But it was a great kind of fatigue, it felt so good to be in this place at this tie doing what we were doing.
I am so grateful to you for your support of Lisa. She will need some long-term help and support. I f you wish to help, you can contribute by sending a donation to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz. Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].
There is great need among the refugees now, they are alone and under relentless siege in the very country that they thought would provide peace and refuge. I hope we can help honor that historic pledge.
As some of you know, people began asking me yesterday if the sketches Ed Gulley has been creating were for sale. Ed said they were, I put three up for sale and when I woke up this morning, I saw that they all had sold almost instantly.
They each cost $100, all the money, naturally goes to the Gulley’s
I went to see Ed this afternoon, and he gave me a new batch of a dozen or more. These sketches have become so important to him, they keep his creative spark alive and also offer him a way of engaging his mind and artistry even as his body is failing him.
I’m trying to get this organized, it is an intensely busy and challenging time for me. I owe it to Ed to keep this going, if he wants to, and he wants.
So I’m going to sell the sketches one at a time, one day at a time. If you want this sketch (unframed), please e-mail me at [email protected] and if you are first, I will e-mail you back and give you payment instructions. I will try to keep a waiting list, but can’t promise, I get hundreds, if not thousands of e-mails a day.
I scrupulously honor the true chronology, if you are first, you will certainly get a sketch, in this case, “Maggie’s Tree,” in honor of his daughter Maggie, and signed. Maria is choosing the sketches to be sold, and in what order. I’m taking care of the payments and correspondence, God help us all.
So far, so good.
So if you want this sketch, please e-mail me soonest, and I’ll take it from there. Thanks.
There is a universal truth about every refugee in the world. By definition, they have lost everything. They are almost all middle-and working class people who had good and comfortable lives. They have not come her to take our money or our jobs.
When Lisa lost her husband in Afghanistan and her sons Baseer and Mudasir lost their father, she had to flee the country and get to America. And she lost everything.
Most governments, including ours at one time, took responsibility for the refugees who have nothing and supported them for some time after they come to a new land. America is not an inexpensive place in which to live. It takes time for any refugee to build a new life.
Our government doesn’t do that any longer, and so Lisa had nothing for nearly two years as she struggles to learn English, find work, and care for her two beautiful and energetic sons. Her English is getting to be very good.
She is living in a filthy and roach-infested apartment, we are helping her to move to a new one in September. Today, to celebrate the Fourth of July in America, Ali and I took Lisa and her sons to Wal-Mart. The Army Of Good raised more than $800 for this trip to Wal-Mart, today, exhausted in the heat after 90 minutes, we stopped at $415. 69.
When Lisa came into the store, she asked why there were so many people there. Because it is the Fourth of July we told her, her new country’s birthday, a day we were celebrating by bring her to Wal-Mart, that most American of places.
After nearly two hours, we had to quit, there was no more room in the cart and we were all exhausted, it was hot in and out of the store.
The receipt was a foot long. The boys bought several toys they wanted – they could hardly believe what was happening – and got some great Superman and Spiderman and Black Panther shirts. Lisa focused on her slippers and the houseware she has desperately needed.
Baseer and Musadir could hardly wait to get home, they will sleep tonight.
We brought her her first vacuum cleaner today, she was overjoyed. See what you did.
We will come back next week to spend the rest of the money.
Baseer, 7 and Mudasir, 5 bought the first toys of their lives (they spent much of their lives in a refugee camp), two Nerf plastic machine guns they have long coveted. They were profoundly happy.
Lisa bought stacks of pants and shirts and a cart full of other clothes for her sons – they have never had new clothes – and then, under prodding from Ali and me, she bought some slippers for herself.
And some towels and cookware an a big trash can and shorts and jeans, and colorful towels, and a small grill, and about 100 other things for the boys. I will give Wal-Mart this, they have everything, and the stuff there is cheap. The money went a long way, and the rest will go further still.
Over the next day or so, I’ll put up some other photos of the shopping trip, it was great fun and immensely rewarding, we saw a lot of smiles on those weary faces. Afterwards, I asked Ali to share his thoughts about the refugees and America on the country’s birthday.
He always speaks from the heart.
Ali and I rejoiced in this trip today, this is what we are hoping to do and trying to do, and with your support, are doing it every week. Thank you, you are keeping good alive.
Tonight, Ali is taking the soccer team to Lake George, N.Y., for the fireworks there, funded by the Army Of Good. Nothing has ever seemed more American to me than an aging Jew and a young Muslim teaming up on the Fourth of July to give this family an urgently needed boost.
Ali is my brother, our souls work in the same way.
And we are not yet done with Lisa and these two quite wonderful boys. They have come through Hell, and their spirits shine.
Lisa was overwhelmed with gratitude, which she showed me again and again, even though her acute shyness. I took 100 photos and she asked if I might only use one or two of them. No chance, i said.
Happy birthday, America, I feel your true spirit and soul were with us in Wal-Mart today.
