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New York – Seth Jones, a young American music producer and songwriter, tells the touching story of his friend Larbi Assaoui, an elder Moroccan immigrant, whom he helped reunite with his family in Morocco after 25 years.
The love and compassion of two men from two different worlds bring ultimate joy, peace and satisfaction to their lives. “Days like today might come along once in a lifetime,” Jones wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
Four years ago, the U.S. composer was watering his rose garden in Nashville, when he met Assaoui as he walked by in front of his home.
“Larbi was quick to let me know I was doing a terrible job at watering and that I would kill my roses if I kept it up. We struck up a conversation and he asked me if I liked vegetables,” Jones narrated their first encounter.
Although Assaoui was basically living off the streets as remembered by Jones, the Moroccan man showed him his generosity and hospitality by gifting him vegetables for which he accepted no remuneration.
The two men became good friends and even though Assaoui, had no belongings and no family, except for a little dog, he was kind enough to dig Jones a proper vegetable garden.
On Monday, while visiting Rabat with Assaoui, Seth Jones recounted his Moroccan friend’s heartbreaking story that led to ultimate happiness.
Larbi Assaoui was born in Taza, Morocco. Abandoned by his wife who ran away with their two-year-old son, Assaoui’s father died of stomach cancer, Jones revealed. The Moroccan man was depressed and decided to go to the U.S. and visit his sister in Kentucky in 1989 to celebrate Thanksgiving.
While in the U.S., Assaoui met an evil man who offered him a job in Nashville but never paid him for his work, prevented him from getting a work visa. He eventually stole his identity and committed crimes that landed the Moroccan in jail for nine months. After learning Assaoui’s hardships, Jones tracked down his family in Morocco and promised to bring him home to them after 25 years of hardships.
He said nothing was easy for them to get the paperwork together to fly back home. “His ID and passport were destroyed in a house fire… After two years, immigration attorneys, a trip to New York, and bribing Moroccan officials, Larbi’s passport finally arrived,” Jones said.
“On Sunday afternoon, after over 26 years in the US, Larbi got on a plane to Morocco. Today I watched him walk out of the doors of the airport and into the arms of his sister who hadn’t hugged him since that Thanksgiving in 1989,” he added.
Overtaken by emotion Jones, highlighted the moment Assaoui saw his mother and the rest of his family.
“I watch him cry in his mother’s arms who for years said her only wish was to see him again before she died. I watched him meet nephews and nieces…It was overwhelming… to say the least,” the music producer wrote from Rabat.
“I’ve still got a lot of processing to do, but right now I’m going to bed thanking God that I was such a shitty rose gardener,” he concluded.
Jones’ post has gone viral on social media garnering nearly 5,700 likes, over 1,100 shares and hundreds of comments. According to a post on Thursday, American celebrity George Clooney has read the Moroccan man’s story.
