When I was 16 years old, I went with a friend to pick up a pizza for her little sister's party. While she busied herself with the others that came along for the pizza, I struck up a conversation with the little old pizza man. I don't know what drew me to speaking with him, but within seconds I think we knew everything there was to know about each other, and if I dare say it, felt love and compassion for one another. His little pizza place put his children through college, made consumers happy, and turned him from Italian to Italian-American. It was his American dream come true. He was the living embodiment of happiness, pride, generosity, and struggle. It was his world. I never forgot that one moment in time, because I think I envied his love for everything he had done and experienced. He had arrived at a place I knew then I was too young to be at. Veni, vidi, vici, right? I'm happy to report that I met that man's spirit and enthusiasm again in two wonderful men in old Jeddah. We walked into the newly-established Jeddah Bliss Museum, which was located on a wonderful little alley. The bottom floor was a living room - literally. It was a traditional Saudi living room comprised of couches, tea sets, books, ornate Saudi historical artifacts, you name it. We were immediately welcomed by our hosts and encouraged to take a seat on the couch. Young boys in traditional dress immediately served us tea and kept the cups filled. We were offered traditional sweets. I must add that we were not anticipated. This was not planned. We were welcomed as family simply because we were there, and they did genuinely see us as family. For two hours we spoke about Jeddah, about them, about us - it was a family reunion. The men are dedicated to the preservation of old Jeddah. They were actually visited by UNESCO directors and by Prince Sultan Bin Salman, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities who commended them for their love and dedication to the city. Any artifact from Jeddah's history is precious, from old Pepsi cans to the marriage trunk brides used to use. They have actual newspapers from Jeddah spanning the last 70 years, and also international newspapers that mention Jeddah, such as a British newspaper from the 1800s. The pride and the passion, and genuine love of the city that these two men exhibited brought tears to my eyes. They didn't have to be there. Each owned his own engineering company and they both had children and grandchildren; they had lives outside of preserving old Jeddah. They were there because they were Jeddah. Jeddah mattered to them more than any other city. Its timelessness and importance, said the men, came from the millions of pilgrims who came to be with God. It came from the millions of nationalities that came to build a city, equally, without changing each other's cultures, and with the purposeful intent of just being with God. They were my pizza man, and for the second time in my life, I was blessed to spend a moment with wonderful men touched by love, intent, purposefulness, and genuine desire and recognition that they are making the world a better place - whether making pizza or preserving Jeddah.
DiAnna Palmer Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
