my hijab wearing neighbor

I used to have a neighbor from Algeria, a Muslim, in my apartment building, on my floor and on my wide of the floor. She was an American citizen, as was her husband and her two kids had been born here.

She had just met the man who became her husband when she won some kind of visa lottery in Algeria that allowed her and a husband to emigrate to America. She told me she sometimes wondered if her husband had married her for the adventure to America.

When I first met her, she seemed happy here. Her husband worked as a car mechanic. She was in school to become a phebotomist.

As soon as she finished her training, she and her family moved back to Algeria. She said their parents were getting on and needed them. She said "My husband and I will never return but our children are citizens here, they can do as they wish when they grow up."

I was sorry she moved. Thus far, she's the only Muslim who has befriended me, inviting me over for tea regularly.

The first time had invited me into her home, she went to remove her hijab as soon as the door closed to her apartment. First, however, before removing the hijab, she said "You must promise me you will never tell a man what my hair looks like. Only my husband can know." Then she pulled off her hijab.

She had bright purple, spiky highlights!

I don't feel as if I am telling a man or a woman about her hair since (1) I don't remember her name and (2) she's long gone back to Algeria. So no one knows what her hair looks like. And there is no reason to assume it is the same as when I used to have the woman's privilege of seeing it.