Rozi Theohari50 Lynnway Apt.718Lynn, MA 01902-4637
Dear Mrs. Laura Bush,
When you and your husband, President Bush, took the journey toEurope at the beginning of June, 2007, I remembered your dear letterthat was sent to me on March 31, 2003, on the occasion my donation of my two books of poems to you:
Two Halves and Rozafat.
I felt gladness when I received your letter—the gladness has addedtoday another happy event the extraordinary visit to Albania ofPresident Bush and you, The First Lady. This was a visit to gladden theheart of every Albanian, a visit that will be recorded in the historicmemory of the Albanian people and the Albanian Kosovar people.Every Albanian says Thank you !I wanted to be there, in downtown Tirana, to applaud and to cheerwith my people wearing Uncle Sam top hats and waving American flags towelcome the most notable guests we ever had in all time.I watched with curiosity your short time spent in our capital,accompanied by Mrs. Berisha. I was touched when I learned that youvisited the Obstetrical & Gynecological Hospital—where my late husband,Viktor, worked all his life as a doctor and as a surgeon.I was thrilled when I read about your dinner with a group ofAlbanian women who sang two Albanian songs. One of these songs, “TheDrenova’s Girlâ€, has its origin from the town Drenova which is adjacentto my birth town, Dardha. I want to inform you that this Albaniantradition—to sing around the celebration table—also continues here, inAmerica, from Alaska to Texas…from California to New York. Usually thishappens in November, when we celebrate Flag Day.I was affected by the human gesture at Fusche Kruje City where youand President Bush were invited with a heartfelt welcoming receptionand with the ceremonial warmed bread. This kind of bread recalled to methe time when I first came to America, in 1994. I am a writer and ajournalist, so the first step I took in the Boston area, was meetingand interviewing Albanian-American people who grew up in America. Iwill never forget Elizabeth, a 93 year old woman in Somerville, Mass.,who showed me an old big stone oven in her garden. In the beginning ofthe “30’s†of the last century, when she was in Albania and married toan Albanian-American immigrant, she asked her husband to promise tobuild a stone oven for baking the traditional Albanian bread when theyarrived in America. Elizabeth’s hot bread became the image of a hotfireplace for Albanian immigrants who visited her house, tasted herbread and remembered their dear country.Honored First Lady, the grassroots of Albanian pro-Americanfeelings have existed from the beginning of the 20th century when30,000 Albanians emigrated to the USA. They worked hard and learned.They created organizations and elected leaders. They published Albaniannewspapers. They created a Diaspora that for more than 100 years hasbeen fighting and protecting Albanian national interests. At everystep, this Diaspora drew the attention, the help and the support of theAmerican Government and American Presidents.My maternal grandfather came to America in 1903 as a young boy whoworked in Maine until his old age. My father came to America when hewas 12 years old, in 1916. When his ship got close and he could see theStatue of Liberty—out of enthusiasm, he took off his coat and threw itinto the ocean. My father settled in Detroit, he studied music andbecame a musician. My father and his friends, Albanian immigrants, cameback to Albania from time to time, to build a new house, to marry andto have children. After World War II, the communists controlled mycountry and they considered America to be the enemy. My family had tofight for their living conditions, for schools, for jobs, foreverything because our father was in America and it looked like he waswith an enemy. But that wasn’t true. Our family survived the bad times,waiting and hoping for the future.Albanian women, who share their native land with Albanian MotherTheresa, are strong. Our mothers and grandmothers waited for decadesand prayed faithfully for their husbands. When I was a little girl, Ithought that the house of God was in America to protect my father andgrandfather…I couldn’t imagine at that time that one day I would becomean American citizen, I would live in USA and I would get involved inAmerican life and culture.Finally, I want to close this letter with the waving of Americanand Albanian flags, as a signal of Albanian-American friendship. Ourred-black flag has waved in freedom in every corner of the USA foralmost 100 years. Moreover, the Albanian flag was carried into space in1995 by the American astronaut W.Gregory, of Albanian origin. Also,American astronaut, Alan Shepard, the first American to travel intospace was of Albanian origin. Shepard carried a small Albanian flagwhen he walked on the Moon on Jan. 31, 1971, in Apollo 14. ThanksAmerica !However, in the past it was not so easy for an American flag towave in the Albanian sky. My mother said to me that, when my fathercame from America to marry her in 1930, among many gifts he brought wasan American flag. Years later, to hide this flag, my mother quilted itbetween two blankets that covered our children’s beds when we slept.Dear Mrs. Bush,You and your husband, President Bush, symbolically brought toAlbania a big American Flag to cover, to care for and to protect theAlbanian nation!
Sincerely yours,
ROZI THEOHARI
Lynn, Mass, June 20, 2007
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