I have been reading Residua quite insatiably. Sometimes it makes me cry. Sometimes I smile as I read. What strikes me most is the person inside you. The son. The father. You certainly know that you are different. No harm to add my vote to what is a consensus already: yes, you are a great man. I am very proud of you. From you I will learn, and I enjoy the privilege of becoming close to you.

From the Residua website (www.residua.org), submitted on June 24, 2003

Addendum (June 30, 2003)

I sent this piece to Marko and Elise on account of “the father” bit. “This should make you laugh,” I added. Marko has not replied yet, but this morning I received Elise’s response:

But not tooooo close. It is good to have rôle models, as they say. This person must be an immigrant. Middle East or Far East, I’d guess. Good that you can laugh at this stuff. Thanks.

It is amazing that Elise has guessed Ghada’s region pretty well. True, the Sudan is not exactly in the Middle East, but it is pretty close to it. Sadly, though, Elise has not found my self-deprecation funny at all. Judging by his silence, neither has Marko.