A Name To Be Proud Of

Disclaimer:  (Don't you love my little disclaimers?) The really cool thing about having a blog, is that you get to say what is on your mind and although it is fun to talk about home decor and weddings, as you might know by now, sometimes I like to venture into my own personal opinions or stories. So please stay with me through the next couple of paragraphs. I promise, I will end on a positive note.

I’ve mentioned a couple times in recent blog postings that my heritage consists of both Irish and Middle Eastern backgrounds. Today I’m going to focus a bit on the Middle Eastern side. 

As you might imagine, growing up with the looks of a Lebanese gal in a mainly Irish-Catholic community posed its challenges at times. Those who are close to me know I’ve got curly, crazy hair for days (often tamed by a hair straightener), along with dark skin and a Middle Eastern nose (yup, I just said that). It was very apparent to me growing up that I looked different from most of the girls I went to school with and it definitely made me a bit insecure at times.

I also knew my family did not eat any type of pork, which most kids found strange, and that we went to a Mosque on Sundays instead of a church like the rest of my friends. These little differences in my life felt constantly magnified by the fact that it made other children around me uncomfortable, and a lot of them made fun of me as a result. The days following September 11th were probably the most challenging, as many kids would shout “terrorist” at my sister and I as we walked through the halls of our high school.

Kids are kids, and anything or anyone that looks or acts differently than what they consider to be the norm, are weird, to put it gently.  I’ll get to my point in just a moment, and I promise this is not just a rant about my childhood tough times, because we alllll have them.

So having said all of that, onto happier times. I shared the above, because you’d think that after all of that I might shy away from being proud of where my family comes from. But I am actually the exact opposite. I am so proud to be unique looking. I am proud to have grown up with a different sounding last name. And I’m proud of every piece of my Middle Eastern heritage, because the story of my family has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with the American Dream.

My Great Grandfather arrived by himself at Ellis Island in 1913 at only 13 years old after avoiding being captured by the Ottoman Empire, who were taking young men in his village in Tripoli, Lebanon to serve in their army. All alone, he found work and created a life for himself and his future family. He worked with others to open the first mosque in New England and was an amazing man who accomplished a lot in his 97 years of life.

He also brought my grandfather into this world, John Omar. My Jiddo, which is Arabic for grandfather, served as a Flight Engineer in WWII and was awarded the Purple Heart after surviving a very courageous mission during the Battle of the Bulge, at which he was able to save the lives of the rest of his crew by stopping his plane from crashing. As a result of this mission, he was taken to a hospital and was separated from his entire crew, all who were sent back to the US. When he was finally released from the hospital, he completed 29 more missions for our country, before returning home. He spent the next 60 plus years of his life building a local business, raising eight children, including my father, and in what can only be described as a storybook marriage to my Siti (Arabic for grandmother).

 My Jiddo, John Omar

And 55 years after arriving home from the war, one of those crew members, who presumed my Jiddo died after that mission, stopped into my Dad’s auto shop in Quincy, Omar’s Auto Service, and asked if he knew a John Omar. My Dad took that man down the street to my grandparent’s home, where that crew member and my Jiddo had an emotional reunion. Can you imagine what an experience that must have been, after thinking they were both gone for 55 years?

Anyways, back to my point. As you can see, my family was built in this country and has fought for it. I know there is a stigma out there associated with Middle Eastern people and I certainly can’t blame anyone for feeling that way. But I hope the next time you think negatively of the Middle Eastern culture as a whole, you’ll remember that there are families like mine and people like my grandfathers who were very proud to be American.

To learn more about my Jiddo, click here!