personal stories
A Writer’s Visit to Author’s Ridge
A recent trip I took to New England to enjoy the Maine seacoast and eat lobster roll also included a stop to indulge the wistful writer in me. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts, is where I set my sights. Am I the only weirdo who felt giddy to visit the graves of a bunch […]
Local Afghanistan refugee hopes to finish dental school after adjusting to new life in United States
I am gladly re-sharing this story by Brie Isom, a wonderful journalist who spoke with an Afghan refugee with dreams to finish dental school. There is a Go Fund me link at the bottom of this article. Share widely! Yasmina Local Afghanistan refugee hopes to finish dental school after adjusting to new life in United […]
There was No Place for a Muslim Journalist in 1980s America
I shared this piece at the Daily Kos: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/17/1912291/-There-was-No-Place-for-a-Muslim-Journalist-in-1980s-America?_=2020-01-17T15:56:33.864-08:00 I was a Muslim American kid of the seventies with a writing bent that delighted my third grade Chicago Public School teacher, Miss Hale. A teen of the eighties who penned sappy poetry and wrote for my high school yearbook, people asked, “What do you want […]
Good Bye, 2016
I’m not one of those people that would lump an entire year into a negative label and dramatically welcome in the coming year. You know what I’m talking about– when people are all, “This year sucked! The new year can’t get here soon enough!” No- I don’t talk like that. Every day that I wake […]
I am a mom now, dear friend. And I am lobbying for your heart.
I welcome guest bloggers here at yasminareality.com. I am honored to have a dear friend, a Muslim sister named Rula whose thoughts are shared here this month. Rula is a mother of 2 small children. A wife, madly in love with her husband. And also a woman who has not only moved a far distance from […]
I’m a Pomak. (What’s That?)
My Muslim heritage goes back to the Ottoman empire when Islam spread into the Balkans. My paternal ancestry is Bulgarian Muslim or Pomak. It’s such a minority, it’s still not completely recognized. I’m a minority of a minority. When hanging around mosques my entire life, finding a Pomak was like finding a needle in a […]
Happy Ramadan 2016
Ramadan Kareem! May this blessed month provide you with spiritual revival and depth, success in your spiritual journey and the ability to receive Allah’s bountiful blessings. I already messed up and woke up an hour earlier than I needed to. Eating must stop at the beginning of dawn – which is prior to fajr. Don’t […]
Muhammad Ali – Legend
Allah has taken our brother, Muhammad Ali, back home to Him. inna lilahi wa inna ilahi raji un. To God we belong. To Him we return. Wow- notwithstanding his accomplishments in boxing – and the memories I have of my family watching his matches with such excitement – he leaves behind such an indelible mark […]
As My Firstborn Graduates
When I was pregnant for the first time, I couldn’t believe a baby would be in my arms at the end of the journey. My friend even had to keep reminding me that yes … a real baby will be yours at the end of this journey. And then she arrived and I was dissociated […]
Our Story in Daily Sabah, Turkey’s English Newspaper
Honored to cover this feature story with Sadaf Syed for Turkey’s Daily Sabah. We visited Fatima in Lombard, IL and met her beautiful girls. We brought our own daughters along to break the ice. I am so amazed at the resilience displayed and her heart of gold. ****** A day with a Syrian mother in […]