Where To ???

A few people have mentioned that DC seems to be the natural place for me to be to lobby the US government on anti-torture issues. It does seem logical to me. So, I emailed a friend who's a US immigration lawyer, who I'll call T. to see what the possibility might be.

Before I go into his answer, let me paranthetically say that when Dan and I got married we were going to go through both countries' processes to become legal in both countries, so we wouldn't have to worry. They were the best laid plans of mice and men. We got Dan landed in Canada, after a huge several year and very expensive effort. By the time we got that done, Dan couldn't sponsor me, because he was disabled, so we never got to that part.

I asked T whether there was a possibility of landing me in the US, since I was the widow of a US citizen. It turns out, if I had asked within two years of Dan's death, it probably would have been easy. Sigh ! I wish I had asked, but that ship has sailed. I also asked if there were any opportunities due to Dan's being a veteran. T hadn't heard of any possibilities along that line, but thought it might be possible. T was pessamistic about my landing on my own, because of my disabilities, although he did say that it depended on what I wanted to do.

So, I started thinking: if I can't get live in DC to lobby, what is the next best alternative. Ottawa! Then I can lobby on behalf of Omar Khadr in person :) My dad's older brother, Pierre, has lived in Ottawa for a very long time. He's retired now, but he was in the Canadian Army Intelligence Corps for twenty years, and then had a very long career as the Head of Ethnographic Films for the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. He lived for many, many years in a house built in the 1800s formerly owned by Lorne Green. It was so old that in the papers he had, Uncle Pierre was obilgued to allow the neighbours in front of him to turn their horse team around on his property. They haven't allowed horses on downtown Ottawa streets, except for parades and police, for decades. I visited Uncle Pierre in Ottawa when I was 15 and my brother was 12, and found Ottawa to be a pretty cool city, but that was a loooooong time ago. I need to more investigation, but thinking about Ottawa sparks something in me that feels right.

Thinking outloud :)

Make it a great day !

Have a day filled with love and inspiration.
Love and Hugs,
Heather