Today, I begin a series. A reading series. Between June 2017 and August 2017, two big chapters passed my life. The first chapter I title as The Heritage Trails. I followed the footsteps of my family through Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. That chapter’s goal was family: meeting cousins I had not seen for years; seeing my Mom’s eyes glisten at the Caucasus Mountains; discovering my great-grandfather’s favorite İstanbul neighborhood; and spending time with siblings and Father in the Arabian Peninsula. The following chapter shall be known as The Hidden Gem. I stumbled across a beautiful life in New Hampshire, a place filled with collegial people, a proud sense of the past, and a positive outlook to the future. The beautiful life brought overwhelming feelings, busy work, and an opportunity to reflect. These were time-consuming activities that sometimes brought me into a rabbit hole. It wasn’t always an enjoyable experience. Nonetheless, my written reflections from the first half of The Hidden Gem show that I have grown and continued on my tracks to my dreams.

Today, I will post one entry a day from the start of The Heritage Trails. All of the writings stem from the notes I wrote during the chapters’ days. They capture some of the most moving parts of my life. I hope to always have a reason to share these written thoughts because they are not unique; other people have experienced similar journeys. It helps me towards my goal of establishing the ever-present fact: we all got more similarities than differences.

Let’s begin.