I barely know my dad, and my dad barely knows me. It's not like we have a dysfunctional relationship. He didn't abandon me while i was a baby, he actually worked his ass of to make sure that I have everything I need to succeed, and then some. He's done everything for me, and is one of my biggest role models, but there are still so many things that we should know about each other.

As I reminisce on my childhood memories, there's one pattern that I'm able recognize; my dad is missing from a lot of them. It's not that he in want to be there, I'm sure he wish he could've been, but his work didn't let him. My dad came to this country for
Jordan, became an American citizen, and worked hard for where he is today. Since he didn't have any post-secondary education, he had to work extra hard. My dad was able to eventually save enough money start up business with some party stores. We'd buy a store, run it or a few years, and eventually move on. Since it was a small store and money was tight, my dad worked every single day, alone with whatever other employee was assigned to work that's day. His days would start at 7 when he went to the wholesale to buy whatever needed to be stocked up on, and he would open the store and work all day until close, usually around 11pm-1am, depending on the day of the week. I barely ever saw my dad on a weekday, but he'd always mange to be around for dinner on Sundays. These were the times when I got to learn more about my dad, since I barely ever saw him.

Party Stores are a terrible business only opinion, especially in Flint. It was strenuous on my dad working like that everyday, I'm sure it was starting to get to his health. Miraculously, my dad managed to find out about a new job opportunity that he was perfectly qualified for. It was a translating job, specifically a job as a sub-contractor for the United States Marines stationed in Baghdad, translating documents and oral speech to English. Since my dad was born in Jordan, and spent many years growing up in Iraq, he knows a handful of languages that made this job perfect for him. This job would eventually become his after a long two year process that included:Several oral and written language exams(proctored in Virginia),  weeks of physical testing, piles of complicated paperwork, thorough government background checks, and a open heart bypass surgery. He managed to secure this job just in time, because three weeks after he sold his store, the new owner was shot and killed in a robbery.

My dad started working overseas in Spring of 2007. Although my dad is now an interpreter for the Foreign Embassy in Iraq, he has been working overseas ever since. He usually comes home every six months for a short time of about two an a half weeks; this averages out to about a month a year. As I'm writing this, it's been a year since I've last seen him, for some stupid reason. But my dad loves his job, he takes a lot of pride in it, which is something he couldn't do with his old job. His new job is loads better than his old one; it's safer, better paying, benefits, room for advancement, and working in a country with a culture he loves. It's almost like vacation, besides the one thing that I know he thinks about every day, his family.

I know it takes tremendous sacrifice to do what my dad does. He's overseas working his butt off to put food on the dinner table that he barely gets to sit at, the cable pill that he doesn't get to watch, and just about everything else. Most of all he is missing years of his kids childhood. He missed out on so much of his kids growing up, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to see your kids in 6 month increments, watching them get bigger, smarter, older, and more responsible every time you come back. It's one of the most selfless things that I could imagine, and I will forever be grateful for everything he's done. I hope one day when he's old I will be able to repay the favor and show how much I appreciate him.