Haneen Alnajjar At Work In the South Side Heart Hospital In OKC
“ I like Mr. Gorbachev, we can do business together,” then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rather famously said after meeting with that Soviet leader in 1984. Thatcher, who like American President Ronald Reagan was deeply suspicious of Soviet intentions in various parts of the world, made that statement after she had hosted the Soviet leader at the Chequers property in the British countryside that is the country home of British prime ministers. And as detailed in a recent biography of Thatcher, the prime minister was somewhat surprised when Gorbachev brought his wife Raisa to the gathering, since her advisers in the British Foreign Office had told her that the wives of Soviet leaders were rarely brought to such functions, and when they did appear they rarely talked . And Raisa Gorbacheva, who had been trained as a lawyer, proved to be a formidable advocate for the positions taken by the Soviet government, and forcefully argued on their behalf to Thatcher and the other British officials present. The British prime minister was a perceptive observer of other world leaders, and she was struck by the fact that Gorbachev’s pride in his wife’s abilities was apparent and that he welcomed her contributions to the ongoing exchanges between the British and Russian officials. That experience prompted Thatcher to conclude that Mikhael Gorbachev was a new type of Soviet leader who was not wedded to the Cold War concepts that had guided his predecessors.
And a recent conversation with restaurateur Mohammed Mahmoud, who goes by the name of Mike and operates the Sam’s Southern Eatery in Stillwater and has recently been assisting in the opening of the Granny Kitchen at 2121 W. Memorial Road in Oklahoma City regarding his spouse Haneen Alnajjar reveals him to be a man with a similar sense of pride in his wife and her accomplishments. She is a health care worker at the Heart Hospital in South Oklahoma City, and migrated to the U.S. From the Kingdom of Jordan in the Middle East in 2015. He recently told of how she has worked hard to obtain that position, which frequently includes the drawing of blood from patients, and that she considers it an honor to be working to protect her patients from the various diseases, including the Coronavirus, that could threaten their well being. And while she and her co-workers are understandably concerned about the possibility of their incurring infections from their patients, they continue to treat them with enthusiasm and bravery. He further told of her admiration for the dedication of the staff at that facility, and that they long for a time when the ravages of the coronavirus are just a memory to be shared with their younger colleagues. Pictures that he shared of her from her place of employment showed a pretty young woman in a hijab who smiled cheerfully. And the memories of the Coronavirus in Oklahoma City may include for some citizens the presence of a cheerful young health worker who cared for patients to the best of her ability.
Against the Grain 