The winds of life guide us to our destiny. They can be as soft as an infant’s breath on a mother’s neck or as disconcerting as a sand storm in the desert. My winds arrived as a sweet unyielding cyclone of knowing that everything I had ever searched for awaited me in Egypt. I needed only to listen and to come to her with an open heart and observe her through the eyes of not only a journalist, but a child who sees everything around them with innocence and wonder.

I Am Happier to Know You evolved from the weekly letters home that I wrote to document my experiences and to soothe the apprehensions of my family and friends who were horrified by my decision to pack up my life and step onto a path with no guarantees, but endless possibilities.

I didn’t know that my journey would overflow with the rare gift of coming to know Egypt through the eyes of her people or that I would share what I learned with readers and audiences around the world, that I would serve as a role model for other men and women seeking to find their destiny, or that I would be called to trumpet the message that peace begins with understanding, honoring and embracing our differences. And I certainly didn’t expect to meet and marry an American expat who is in all ways my heart mate.

I Am Happier to Know You is also the story of how, at the age of 54, a single woman experienced the joy of self-discovery and healing found in the warm embrace of the Egyptian’s and expats who became her Eastern family.

It’s a book overflowing with hilarious and poignant stories that will make you laugh aloud, validate your frustrations and experiences and help you to understand the Egyptian culture from the inside. You may also cry in compassion or rage and, if you choose to, to see how you too can grasp the reins of your destiny and step onto the trail that will lead to your life purpose.

"This book is so engaging and gives one woman's insight into the plight of coming to a foreign land and starting over. With practical real life examples and make you laugh-out-loud scenarios, her very matter-of-fact depictions about life [in Egypt] are something we have all/will all encounter at one time or another..."
Dina Hanna Gad, Intercultural Coordinator, Cairo.