Mudasir and I played hide and seek while Ali and Lisa and Baseer looked for towels. The cart was stuffed with toys and clothes and housewares, including a big new and urgently needed trash can.

it was a scorchingly hot day, inside and out of the store,  and we all went as long as we could. We had to stop, I was soaked in  sweat and worn out. But it was a great kind of fatigue, it felt so good to be in this place at this tie doing what we were doing.

I am so grateful to you for your support of Lisa. She will need some long-term help and support. I f you wish to help, you can contribute by sending a donation to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz. Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].

There is great need among the refugees now, they are alone and under relentless siege in the very country that they thought would provide peace and refuge. I hope we can help honor that historic pledge.