She is very lucky she got out.
A girl I grew up with we to college for nursing school. She met a Saudi resident physician (at the hospital associated w/the school). It was a whirlwind romance. I was a “quickie” Bridesmaid (actually one of the witnesses to the civil ceremony. This was pre 9/11 and I thought he was marrying her to gain US citizenship. I don’t believe that was the case. She dropped out of school when she got pregnant; their 1st child was a boy. They went to Saudi Arabia for a visit to show his family his son. They NEVER came back. No contact at all in the ensuing years. When Facebook started up & I started looking up old friends I NEVER found her. None of the other HS friends ever heard from her again. She just went poof. Disappeared.
Her dad passed away when we were in late years of grade school; and I never knew her moms first name. She had much older brothers (who I also tried to find on FB but no avail).
I wonder if she got out, wanted to stay, was made to stay or worse.
The writer of this article is very, very lucky.
A long time friend of many years moved to Boston from upstate NY where we grew up. We both moved around a little, me more than her. She changed apartments, I changed zip codes. (: But, we always kept in touch through the years.
In about 2000, she told me she married a Muslim man from Morocco. He was supposedly a student. This was pre-9.11, so I did not think too much of it. At most, I had some suspicion that maybe it was a marriage to stay in the country.
He had approached her at a coffee shop. Not to sound mean but she was never much of a looker. Always over weight, not a ton of confidence. So, the idea of a foreign stranger approaching her in a coffee shop seemed weird.
Fast forward a year or two and it began to get weirder. For one, whenever I called her--he was the MEANEST SOB to ever answer a phone and HE never once gave her the message that I called.
Then there was never a straight story about what he did. A student, a tech guy, a cook...I forget the other vocations but there were a few.
Soon, his family was living with them.
Next, they were taking a vacation to Syria. I thought that odd because I knew enough to know Syria was not a vacation hot spot.
At the time I lived in Germany, and she told me had had lived in Hamburg. (after 9.11 that really seemed dubious)
Long story short, the last time I spoke with her, she said she was trying to move to the UK and didn't want to be married anymore.
I have never heard from her again. It's been about 12 years now. I have looked through Facebook with a fine tooth comb to find her--no sign and she is definitely the type to have a Facebook account and keep old ties.
Wow...that poor thing is probably dead or just ended up a slave like the rest of the women. I read that book, “Not Without My Daughter,” many years ago and that was hair-raising. Was a good movie, too, with Sally Field. Yes, our girls needs to be informed, but girls do dumb things...look at all the worship of the Boston bomber. Weird.