Sentiments of hope

My wife, Mary, and I were in Cairo in January ’05 when we learned that our daughter Julie, back in Arizona, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. We became frequent customers in the Cairo Marriott gift shop, where they sold phone cards. The problem with the phone cards was that they each lasted only three minutes on calls to the States.

When we tried to buy cards with “more minutes,” the young man working there sensed our concern and offered to let us use his cell phone for the same cost as the phone cards — we would be able to talk for about 20 minutes. We took him up on his offer and made a call from his cell phone in the small gift shop.

When we finished the call, he told us that he had overheard our conversation with our daughter. He also informed us that he was a medical student paying his way through school with this job. He was very sympathetic and offered us sentiments of hope and healing. He couldn’t have been more concerned or warmer.

When we went to settle up with him, he would take no money for the call. When we insisted, he refused again. Then he looked us in the eye and said, “Julie is my sister also.”

We were such emotional wrecks, we broke down in tears. He grasped our hands in friendship.

We will never forget the kindness of this young man. He will be a great doctor.

Egypt is great because of its history and its monuments. We will always remember it for its people.

NORMAN HELBER
Scottsdale, AZ