When you hear Middle Eastern what do you think of? Saddam Hussein? Osama bin Laden? The disaster of 9/11? I think of the delicious taste of hummus, the Eastern Orthodox Church where I was baptized, and my close family members who have always taken care of each other. When I hear Middle Eastern, I think home.

People should know the difference ­between the terrorists who have brought shame to the Middle East and Middle Easterners who are going about their everyday lives, like me.

In the 1990 census, 870,000 people in the United States said they were of Middle Eastern descent. Eighty-four percent are U.S. citizens, and 64 percent of the Arabs were born in America. They have connected these two cultures and offer much to our country.

One of the best aspects of this area of the world is the food. Have you ever tasted Middle Eastern cuisine? Talking about it now makes my mouth water. One of my favorites is hummus. Ful madammas is an Arabian bean salad soaked in lemon juice that, to me, is better than ice cream cake with vanilla frosting. Tabouleh is a salad of parsley, tomatoes, lemon juice, and mint. I am in heaven when the sweet mint touches the tip of my tongue. Just as the parsley is the sweet mint of my salad, my Middle East background is the sweet mint of my life. This heritage is a major part of my life.

Discovering how my family came here intrigued me. In Syria’s capital, Damascus, my maternal great-grandfather, Raphael, joined the Turkish military and immigrated to the United States in 1919. He returned to bring his family, but instead found Laurice, my great-grandmother. They returned to the U.S. in 1936 and had four children, one of whom was my grandfather.

Also from Damascus, Victoria, my ­paternal great-grandmother, immigrated to the United States in 1905. My paternal great-grandfather, Dimitry, went to ­Argentina and then to the United States in 1912. They met, married, and had my grandmother, Mary. Mary and John ­married and had my father. He met my mother and they had me and my siblings. That is my sweet mint story.