My mother was Badrieh Saydjari, daughter of Sheikh Saleh Sejari (or Saydjari as it is spelled on our side of the family). Her mother passed away and so her older sister Farida became a mother to them all. I remember when she visited us in Oklahoma once. She dressed traditionally and was very conservative in her manner. My mother treated her with a great deal of respect and honored her visit as one would a matriarch.
My brothers and I recall how she did not care for some of our Western ways including allowing a dog in the house. Whenever our dog Brownie ( a sweet mix of a German shepherd and a collie. She would exclaim Bisk! Bisk! whenever the dog approached her. As young mischievous boys, my brothers and I found that amusing.
Farida was the first woman from our parent’s home city of Jisr Al-Shughour to graduate from the Syrian University of Midwifery in 1936 and the first woman to be elected to Parliament during the union between Syria and Egypt – The United Arab Republic (UAR)
The UAR (in Arabic: الجمهورية العربية المتحدة al-Jumhūrīyah al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1961. It was initially a political union between Egypt, including the occupied Gaza strip, and Syria from 1958 until Syria seceded from the union after the 1961 Syrian coup d’état.]
This was an incredible accomplishment and honor for Farida and the family. I remember how broken heated my mother was when Farida passed away. She mourned for a very long time.