My grandfather was named Farid Jabre. He was born in Beit Chebab, Lebanon. He changed his birth date to March 19 to show his devotion to Saint Joseph. My dad doesn’t remember my grandfather’s real birth date, except that he was born in the year 1921. Grandfather died before I was born. He died from a stroke and heart attack because of heavy cigarettes smoking. So, please, don’t smoke.
My dad talks about grandpa often. He describes him as kind, yet very strict man. He made sure that my dad was raised to be respectful of people, especially his elders. Grandpa also had a very creative side. He would teach my dad little tricks and shortcuts to make life better and easier. Like the majority of my Lebanese side of the family, grandpa was a little crazed, but not in a mental way… just very demonstrative. Every time he accomplished something big, he’d grab his hunting rifle and shoot 30 shots into the air. Dad says that celebrating by shooting gunfire is common in Lebanon but he disagrees with this tradition because it’s very dangerous and people can be killed. We often see fireworks in the U.S. as a sign of celebration or a 21 gun salute for a funeral. Traditions in families and cultures are often similar. I know that dad looks up to grandpa a lot because he always tells me what grandpa would have done if he was still alive.
I thought that grandpa was an electrician, but he was actually a mathematician and an electrical engineer. He graduated from Ecole Normale Superieure, in Paris, France. That’s the same school that Louis Pasteur the famous scientist, attended. Grandpa would not allow anyone to use calculators in his house. He used to toss them out of the window whenever he saw them. My dad tries to carry on the tradition by making me do mental math. It’s usually more fun practicing mental math by playing Lebanese card games, like Basra!
Life wasn’t always easy in Lebanon. There were often snipers along the roads during the Lebanese Civil War in the 1980s. Dad was training at a hospital near a large army base during the war. One day on his way home from work, he lost all of his car windows due to the bombs. When he got home, grandpa looked at the car and said, “It’s fine. Life goes on.” I think this is a good piece of advice to remember when things get tough.
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This is the fifth of eight stories from the feature reporters at Kid Scoop News, a monthly newspaper tabloid designed for and by Siouxland students. The hope is that these readings might inspire others to start recording the stories of friends, family members and loved ones they don't want to forget.
