![]() ![]() Now I was also a “terrorist.”Īnd there was something else: I’m gay. I was already used to feeling like an outsider. ![]() I was taunted and called names, like so many other Muslim and Middle Eastern people at that time. It changed my life forever, too.ĭuring recess, boys would ask me why “my people” had attacked the Twin Towers. 9/11 was a day that changed America forever. ![]() They’ll raise their eyebrows, or just flat-out say, “Ouch.” Given that I’m also visibly Middle Eastern, I get it. People are always surprised when I tell them my birthday is Sept. I was too young to know what it meant that my birthday fell on 9/11. I went home to a dark house, disappointed. I expected my mom to bring cupcakes to school during lunch, a tradition I loved because for one day each year, I knew I wouldn’t have to feel like the weird bookworm, the Iranian American, the outsider who couldn’t kick a soccer ball to save his life. My ninth birthday fell on a school day, a bright and clear-skied Tuesday in September. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |