Just Your Average 68-Year-Old College Freshman.
He and I will spend two afternoons together each week during the semester—except on those days when he’s scheduled to go before a judge. Even though there’s no credit or tuition involved, this is one of the most educational experiences I have at the college.
He was processed through O’Hare International only weeks ago. It’s not the clothes or the hair or even the accent, somehow you just know when people are new. We’ve teamed up to do battle against the tyranny of English prepositions, the aggressive cruelty of articles, the singular and plural teasing of our verb forms. He’s not afraid of a fight.
The civil war in Syria is his war—you’ve read about it. Ironically we discovered and discussed the word “bitter” yesterday (“Not sweet.” he repeated.). He was an infantry officer in the Syrian Army. He saw things. He’s neither a Shiite or Sunni—he had to leave.
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