Hanging outside the Temple of Hatshepsut with Paul and Omri. August 2005.

Dear Egypt,

I know it’s been a long time since we last spoke. I haven’t seen you in more than five years, though in someways it feels like many more.

This is such a difficult time for you, it’s hard to know what to say. I can only try to imagine what you are going through. The pictures I see on the news and the stories I hear … It is too much to have you so far away. Please know that I am thinking of you right now, and wishing you find the peace you seek.

I will never forget the kindness you showed me on Sept. 11, 2001, and in the days after … And it was good to spend time with you again in 2005 under happier circumstances. Please give my love to the Nile, the Pillars of Karnak, the bustling streets of Cairo, the bedouin tents in the desert Sinai and all the amazing fishies in the great big Red Sea.

Much love …