My friend “and soon to be colleague” Colin Bower is going through one of the most difficult ordeals I can imagine as a parent. His sons, Noor and Ramsay, were kidnapped by their mother a year ago and taken to Egypt. Colin, who won sole custody of the children in the divorce, has had no contact with his sons since they left the U.S., despite having made many trips to Egypt.
Colin’s ex-wife’s friends and family have refused to return his calls. An Egyptian court has granted him visitation, but when he traveled to Egypt to see them, he waited in a park for seven hours and they never turned up.
Colin is a strong and private man, and I know how difficult it is for him to be discussing this in public. But he’s also a devoted father who wants his sons back more than anything on Earth, and he knows that drawing attention to this issue is the best way to make that happen.
You can help by going to the Facebook page Help Bring Noor and Ramsay Home, and clicking “like.” The more people who do that, the more attention that we draw to this issue, the better the chances that all of the people and agencies involved will do the right thing. There are a few other ways suggested on the page that you can help as well.
Last year, Colin was in town and I gave him a ride to the airport. First, we picked up The Boy at daycare, and he rode with us. Colin and Conrad discussed Conrad’s favorite thing at the time, the cartoon show “Caillou,” about a little Canadian boy. Conrad was very excited to find that Colin was a fan as well. Colin told Conrad he used to watch Caillou with Noor and Ramsay. I could tell the conversation was difficult for him.
After I dropped Colin off at the airport, Conrad and I were driving home and he couldn’t stop talking about Colin. Finally he said, “Colin fly on a airplane. He like Caillou. He a good man.”
He is a good man. And a good father. Help him see his sons again.