this is a post from my best friend, omar. i have written about him many times before. i love this person with all my heart! here's why:
After a year of marriage my parents were informed that my mother was incapable of conceiving. In spite of this, my parents tried in vain for several years to have children. After five years of failure, they began looking into adoption. It was only after they narrowed down their choices that my mother discovered that she was pregnant with me. My sister was born a little less than two years later. Simply by existing, my sister and I have brought my parents the greatest joy. It’s an interesting feeling.
Perhaps this explains Mom’s insistence that her little children abstain from “ordinary clothing.” No jeans or t-shirts for me as a toddler. I wore sailor suites, home-made shirts, pirate garments, and mini-tuxedos to the movies.
My sister, Sofia, and I were the best dressed children in Baltimore, without question. It’s probably more accurate to say, most uniquely dressed. Mom was always photographing us in our interesting clothing. She would stand back, make some ridiculous face, fumble with her camera, and I would start laughing, lost in my own world while Sofia remained perfectly fixated on the camera.
We lived in a beautiful, early 19th century Colonial-style house in Baltimore. The basement had concrete floors, a series of dog kennels my father had built when he unsuccessfully dabbled in dog breeding, and very dim lighting. It was humid, moldy, and there were old, rusty power-tools my father hung on the walls and never used. In short, it was a dungeon. For several months, my sister and I believed that our parents were the king and queen from some forgotten country, seriously. We would search the entire house for jewels, much to my mother’s dismay when she saw me toting around her necklaces like a pirate carrying away his booty. Perhaps this is why my mother designed a sailor suite for me, perhaps but probably not.
So Mom, I have no idea why you dressed me as a sailor, but I love you for it.
