JANICE STEIN

On a crisp fall day, I ducked into the subway for a quick ride downtown. I looked for a seat in the crowded car, but it was full. Within a few minutes, a young man stood up and offered me his seat. I accepted with gratitude and asked him where he was from; I could tell from his halting English that he had recently arrived. He told me that he had come from Aleppo and we began a lively conversation about a city that I had visited more than once. Just then the subway lurched, stopped, and the lights went out. The young man began to tremble; he told me that when he finds himself in a confined dark space, he returns to the cellar he hid in when Aleppo was bombed. I reached out to hold his hand and reassured him that he was now in Toronto. He grabbed my hand and held tight — to Toronto. Janice Stein, CM, OOnt is the founder of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.