Dear Desiree: Confessions of a Grandfather
by
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Between Worlds The harshest of environments have some of the richest displays of life. For example, an intertidal zone found on the rocks at the coast is one. It is an area that can’t be claimed by land or sea, for the orbit of the moon dictates when the rocks are exposed to the air and when they are submerged in salty water. The only predictable things are the crashing waves and the solid rocks, yet a plethora of creatures call this home. It is as if the unpredictability and harshness of this environment captured a certain type of richness in the creative powers that be. There are intercultural zones in human societies as well. These are unpopular zones, because people tend to need to belong to a particular group to form an identity. It is easier to say that I am French, Egyptian, or American, than to say I am French-Egyptian. People get confused as to where you stand on issues, and if there were a war between France and Egypt, which side you would choose. These situations are not common, but once in a while, it does occur that a French woman marries an Egyptian man, and they have children. I was born into and was raised in one such intercultural zone. This zone was created by the union of an Egyptian man named Ahmed Adel Rasheed and an American woman named Meridine Louise Hughes: your great-grandparents. Adel was in the United States going to school when he met Mary. They fell in love and married in Corvallis, Oregon. I was their first son, born in Corvallis. A few weeks after my birth, in 1949, we traveled to Egypt and unlike many intercultural marriages, we did not settle down. I spent my infant years in Egypt, my kindergarten years in the States, my grade school years in Egypt, my young adolescence in the States, attended high school in Egypt and college here in America. In 1968, I came to the United States once again, and I have been living here ever since. I never developed a sense that I am either an Egyptian or an American. My attempts to form an identity were certainly a struggle, but I had one thing going for me. I am of the personality that likes things to be settled. I have formed an identity that is neither Egyptian nor American, but transcends them both. This allows me to see the world in a new light that is much misunderstood by both sides, an identity like those of creatures in the intertidal zone must possess.
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About the Book
This book is packed with light moments and deep, dark and tormenting secrets of a troubled life lived between two worlds. A must read for those seeking an understanding of how east meets west in a mind that had no choice in the matter.
A unique and multifaceted autobiography that starts out simply with detailed portraits in chronological order of people, places and events that influenced the author’s life then moves on to his philosophy of life followed by a collection of his short stories and paintings to give greater insight into his soul.
Although born in Corvallis, Oregon U. S. A. of an American mother and an Egyptian father, he grew up in Egypt. He returned to the U. S. A. for good at the age of eighteen where he is better known by the names of “Hoss” to co-workers and “Punky” to family members. He now lives in Sherwood, Oregon just south of Portland with his wife of thirty nine years, Karen. He has one daughter, Samia, and at last count ten grandchildren the eldest being Desiree.
About the Author
Hassan Rasheed is a retired Boeing Engineer who has previously published five books both fiction and non-fiction. He has two master’s degrees in Biology and Applied Information Management from the University of Oregon. Although he was born in Corvallis, Oregon U. S. A. of an American mother and an Egyptian father, he grew up in Egypt. He returned to the U. S. A. for good at the age of eighteen where he is better known by the names of “Hoss” to co-workers and “Punky” to family members. He now lives in Sherwood, Oregon just south of Portland with his wife of thirty nine years, Karen. He has one daughter, Samia, and at last count ten grandchildren the eldest of whom is Desiree.