Ola’s father spent seven long years behind bars as a political prisoner when she was a child. Before he could enjoy his freedom he died in a tragic accident. Ola’s tragedy, seems to be repeating itself, as her fiance, Rami, languishes in Assad’s prisons.

Rami Suleiman, a Palestinian-Syrian activist, a man of freedom and love, was arrested by Assad’s forces on July 7, 2013 near Yabroud. Ola and Rami’s story had started in 2010, and was meant to end in their wedding, that was not to come. Rami, born 1978, was an economy graduate from Damascus University, and he did not hesitate when the uprising began. He refused to carry arms but worked tirelessly in education and care for children at a time when weapons did all the talking.

His pacifist strategy earned him no favor with a regime that is most afraid of activists like Rami. He was arrested and disappeared in the maze of prisons upon which the Syrian regime built its control of the state. Ola, and Rami’s parents have heard nothing of him since his arrest in 2013.

Their anxiousness is tinted with never ending hope, however, that they will see him again. That hope is on display every day on the Facebook page that they created to call for his release. His picture adorns one post: “Like that, full of light, full of laughter, full of hope for all around you. That’s how we are used to see you, and that’s how you’ll return. We await you with hope, and all the love you deserve. We await you with the confidence that you are stronger than this.”