A Temporary Gift: Reflections on Love, Loss and Healing

On Friday, August 16, 2013, twenty-six-year-old Amr Kassem attended a peaceful protest in Alexandria, Egypt along with thousands of others, rallying against the mass injustices taking place in the aftermath of the coup d’etat by the Egyptian military under the command of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. As Kassem returned home to his family, an Egyptian army sniper shot and killed him, leaving a woman widowed and a child fatherless. A Temporary Gift is a record of journal entries written by Kassem’s widow, Asmaa Hussein, during the two years following his departure from this world. This book is about re-learning how to live in the face of immense trauma. It is a reminder that beyond the pain and darkness of loss there is still the potential of light in patience and constancy.