Finding courage and focus when it’s your one and only option.
Family time.
Kuwait 1990 - heavily pregnant, summer school was almost at an end, and I’m looking forward to a few weeks at home before baby number 3 arrives.
But in the early hours of 1 August, Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, had other plans.
I remember that day like it was yesterday.
Half asleep, I was wondering whether to skip the weekly supermarket trip and pop over to see Joanne instead - she’d not been well lately - and then the decision was made for me. I’d never seen Abbey in such a panic. He’d left for work, as normal, some fifteen minutes ago, and was now stood in the bedroom shouting something about the army were only 15 minutes away from Kuwait City.
The next thing I knew, we were bundling our two children into the car and driving out of the city towards the suburbs to take refuge with friends.
Saddam Hussein was ‘reclaiming’ Kuwait - his oil rich neighbour that he wanted a part of - and his army were heading for the City.
Hope that this was going to blow over in a few days turned into confusion, shock, and fear.
Overnight, we were five adults and three children taking refuge on the outskirts of the city. I was heavily pregnant, Joanne’s chemotherapy had now been cut short, food was running short in the supermarkets, and the army were roaming residential areas picking up Westerners to be taken to Baghdad as hostages.
A moment in the heat with Zeyneb and my neice.
This was our backdrop.
Just when you think it can’t get worse…. when you think this is it, Anne - get on with it …. we got news that an imminent chemical attack was on the cards.
Joanne was already fighting her own battle - and maybe this unexpected disruption to her chemo was strangely welcomed - a distraction - but now it was time to fight another battle.
It was time to prep for the unimaginable.
Joanne and I sat on the tiled floor cutting up towels into small squares - we filled buckets with water and placed the towels in the buckets. Then when the time came, all we had to do was take a piece of towelling and place it over our nose and mouth, like a face mask, to filter out the chemicals.
Those initial days rolled into weeks of captivity. Fear enveloped us daily - there was no relief from its grip. Stories circulating the supermarket car parks got wilder and wilder by the day, and in case we needed reminding, were graphically illustrated on Iraqi tv - the only channel we now had access to.
The best friends ever! Me, Frances and Joanne.
The cloak of darkness enticed young Kuwaiti men out into the streets chanting Allah Akbar.
Each night, on the floor in our make-shift bed, I lay awake listening to this nightly ritual of chanting and gunfire - wondering if we were ever going to get out of this alive.
But this was our reality, and if there was any chance of freedom, we had to fight this with every ounce of strength and courage in our bodies.
That was 31 years ago - the lesson still stays with me and this is why, I’m convinced, that nothing really phases me. Our experiences are the cornerstone of who we are today - quietly fuelling our values and vision.
When that curve ball comes your way and knocks you flying - you have two choices.
Stay down and wait for someone to pick you up - or dig deep, find that courage and run with that curve ball.
And once you’ve run that race, you know in your heart you can deal with anything now - you’ve discovered a strength that you didn’t know was there, and realised how precious those people are around you.
- You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice
Bob Marley
Anne absorbs your world with curiosity, love and wonderment, delivering a photography experience that provides business owners with a curated image collection that tells their unique brand story.
- It’s not until you take the time to listen to someone’s story that you begin to understand.
Our stories are the cornerstone of who we are - giving space for acceptance, clarity and vision which shine through all the shoots I create for business owners.
Anne Thomas
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