Ghassan's Story

Ghassan was born in Los Angeles, the first-generation son of an Egyptian dad and Lebanese mom. Food, especially the cuisines of his parents' homelands, was an important part of his life growing up. It became a love language for him.

Wanting to share that love with others, Ghassan decided to become a chef. But the path to running a kitchen in LA isn't easy—brutal hours, even more brutal bosses, and a revolving cast of characters for coworkers. After a few years, Ghassan got burned out. For a more balanced, healthier life, he detoured into becoming a personal trainer.

But for the first-generation American son of an Egyptian dad and Lebanese mom who express love through food, personal training wasn't it. Ghassan missed being in the kitchen. He craved the tastes, smells, energy, creativity, connection, and joy of cooking. But he definitely didn't miss the long days, drug-fueled coworkers, or intense pressure of working in kitchens in one of America's biggest and best food cities.

Ghassan has a life philosophy: follow the wind. Ghassan's parents have a parenting philosophy: be happy. Unlike the parents of many first-generation Americans, they have supported Ghassan every step of his journey. Including the next career step he took to get back into the kitchen: moving 3,000 miles from warm, sunny, oceanside Los Angeles to the middle of Maine's 100-Mile Wilderness. There, Ghassan is a chef at Gorman Chairback Lodge, where he cooks full communal breakfasts and dinners, and the "trail lunches" that guests take on their excursions. Ghassan had never kayaked or spent much of his adult life in nature, but traded in his LA life for a life surrounded by trees, ponds, and moose, without a cell signal to be found.

But Ghassan is back in the kitchen, doing what he loves, and he gets to flex his cooking chops. Not tied to one restaurant's cuisine, he gets creative with what the lodge has on hand, making everything from BBQ pulled pork to curried chickpeas to French toast. He gets to interact with guests, tell his story, and hear theirs. As a seasonal worker, he's only expected to work at Gorman Chairback until October. Asked if he'll come back for the busier winter season, Ghassan says, "I'll go where the wind takes me."

My family and I were lucky the wind (and Google Flights) took us on vacation to Maine. Mercifully, we had no wifi or cell connection. We left the daily thrum of news, politics, tariffs, bills that are supposedly big and beautiful, natural disasters, and wars (trade and otherwise), and spent our time hiking, kayaking, and talking to people like Ghassan. And with two exhausted kids and a schedule set to the sun, we had time to just… think.

In light of the 4th of July, I've realized Ghassan is the best of America. The first-generation son of immigrants, taking the risk of chasing his dreams, letting the wind carry him from (literal) sea to shining sea. He works hard and helps people have the time of their lives, and he embodies warmth and kindness.

How much better off would we be, and how many more Ghassans would we meet, if we all spent less time with wifi and cell connections, and more time having real conversations with real people?