Waleed J. Iskandar
(1967-2001)
"Wherever he was, that became the best place in the world to be"
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It needed some courage from me to take the step to write to you...almost one year and a half after the death of your son. First I thought I'll forget your story...it was unfortunately such a sad story but unfortunately too I have heard or seen so many sad stories.... But no, even now it seems I am unable to just forget it. You would please have to excuse my English, I would have preferred to write to you in French (so to express myself better), but I don't know if this would be convenient for you... I should present myself. My name is Rima, I am a 27 years old, Lebanese and I live since October 2000 in Paris... I have lived before all the time in Lebanon. On September 11, I was like everyone shocked and saddened by the horror of the terrorist attack... I felt like I was living an endless war...a war I thought I'll never have to live again...and on the LBC channel that evening, I've seen your son's face, I heard his story of success and known about his tragic death. Later I have discovered his web site and read all the beautiful things you gathered. Even now, I surprise myself coming back to your web site and searching for more news... like if at some point you were going to say that he is alive, married and happy...and then I'll close the page and never come to see it again. What can I say to you, that haven't been said. Words are vain when a child dies even if his death looks like a modern Greek tragedy : a young man who lived fully his life, touched the lives of everyone he knew, loved and was loved...had all the talents...and yet... I am aware that I cannot bring comfort to you, and that only God can...and maybe your knowledge that you have a fine son that you can always, even now that he is gone, be proud of...and that the 34 years you had with him were worth it...and that you will have again eternity together. I am sorry if my letter disturbed you, I think I didn't write to comfort you but to comfort myself. I didn't want to use the guestbook, I wanted to write a real personal mail to you and to your wife. I can dare to hope to have a mail back from you, I would really like to know that you and the rest of the family and his fiancée are somehow O.K. I think about all the victims of 11 September, may be most of all about the Lebanese victims, I know that there were others. I pray God to give you patience and comfort. I guess I'll never forget you without even knowing you. I admire your courage and your faith. Rima Salameh February, 28, 2003 |
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Every time I am in church, I feel your presence sitting next to me. This is why I go every day ..... to meet with you. I will be counting the minutes until we get to the church. Today, 6:30 AM, I attended the Mass. I prayed for your soul. I prayed for all the sick and for all those who are needy of the Lord mercy. I prayed for the peace in the world. It is the Lenten Season. It is the time to remember what Jesus has gone through to save us. March, 05, 2003 |
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How does one start writing about a friend who is no longer with us, but will always remain in our hearts. How does one write about a friend he's known since kindergarten (still searching for that photo of Waleed, Rula Sukkar and myself during our early days at the French School of Kuwait), then elementary, then most of high school. A friend, who lived only a few buildings down the road, even rode the same school bus at times…played soccer together and started listening to hard rock music together. Well, here it goes, the memorable things I've shared with Waleed which are still embedded in my memory and always will be: -Music: I recall vividly the first time we both bought a cassette for AC/DC, at the time, the number one hard rock band in the world. The album was 'Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap'. There was a particular track on this album that always made us laugh…(if anyone was to read the tracks on this album, they'll be able to figure out which one!). That same day, we had also bought a tape for Quincy Jones, I can still hum the song, but cannot remember the name of it to save my life…it was possibly called 'I know Corriba'! (talk about diverse musical tastes). -Soccer: Waleed being the most athletic was the only 'real' goalkeeper we ever entrusted. The sandy football field at The Kuwait Sea Club is witness to that. Most of the players always took forward positions and since Waleed was guarding the net, we needn't worry! That ball kept coming back to us from the goal line, preparing us for another attack! -Politics: This is by far the most memorable chat I've ever had with Waleed and it goes along these lines…I had just arrived to school (American School of Kuwait) and was heading straight to the 'boys watering hole', right in front of the 'cold filtered water units'. This is where all the guys used to meet before going to class. On that particular day Waleed looked sad and his eyes were watery. I took one look at him and asked him 'what's wrong?'. His reply was 'haven't you heard'? He got me totally off guard. I responded ignorantly 'no'. He continued Bachir Gemayel is dead! This was at the height of the Lebanese Civil War and like most multi-sectarian young Lebanese, who lived in the safe sheltered gulf environment, none of us really knew what the war was about. As a matter of fact, the issue of who comes from what religion never even surfaced among all of us. It was many years later that I've come to realize that Waleed's sadness was not as result of Gemayel being a Christian or anything to do with that matter. Gemayel was family! To make a long story short…I moved to Lebanon over 9 months ago and at one time I lived down the road from Sassine Square, Achrafieh. The building right next to the building I was staying in had a memorial. 2 days later I realized that the memorial was in honor of the later president elect Bachir Gemayel. Believe me, not once did I ever walk by that memorial and Waleed's famous chat that morning didn't sprint to my mind! To make a long story short: all of us, who were raised abroad, outside the conflict of the Lebanese Civil War, didn't ever care about anyone's religion, sect or origin. Our families raised us to love one another, care for one another and be good to one another. Only if this applied to everyone else ....... !!! I miss Waleed. Hassan Mikail (click to see a photo of Family) ( March, 06, 2003 ) |
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I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So it is with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. This is the word of the Lord - John 16: 20-22 ( March, 08, 2003 ) |
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I received a message from Mr Hussein Itawi, Dearborn, Michigan. "I am a High School Student in Dearborn, Michigan. I attend Fordson High School. Saturday, March 22, is The School 75th Anniversary. We will be honoring Waleed Iskandar with a Peace Pole which will be posted in front of our school for everyone to see. My friendship with your son, Waleed, is only through what I have learned about him from your website and from "Points of Light Foundation". For the schools 75th anniversary we are going to honor a 9/11 victim. We wanted the victim to have some relation with the people in our community. Dearborn has a high Arab population and most of the Arabs are Lebanese, so we searched for a person who could not only be someone to honor but for high school students, like myself, to look up to. Waleed was a smart man and attended some of the best Universities and is a wonderful role model for the students here. His story will be told to our community at the anniversary. I will send you a picture of the Peace Pole as soon as I can." Hussein Itawi ( March, 18, 2003 ) |
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