Family

My younger brother Sami caught the bug first and took it upon himself to begin documenting the stories our parents had told us when we were kids.

We go into some detail on how Middle Eastern names are derived on the family website which is highly variable.

Sir Walter Scott once said: A ruin should always be protected but never repaired – thus may we witness fully the lingering legacies of the past.

I suppose I used to resent that all too common a question. When asked about my origin I used to say truthfully that I was born in a small town in Northwestern Wisconsin called Barron.

There is an old Bedouin saying that roughly translates “there can be no religion without virtue”. On our family websites page on the Crusades, this quote is mentioned in the context that the Arab Faris (knight) code of honor

Usamah ibn Munqidh al-Shayzari was a trusted advisor and friend to Saladin. In addition, Saladin admired Usamah as a poet and carried an anthology of poetry created by Usamah with him wherever he went.

The full quote by James Baldwin is: “I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that.

Fate may be an impregnable fortress but the old family castle is a shadow of its former glory. It has been studied extensively by archaeological teams from Italy and Germany.

As we researched the legacy project we found more and more corroborating information that gave credence to my father’s often flamboyant stories. It would seem not all of our incredulity was warranted.

This project is in all ways a labor of love. The primary purpose is one of legacy; something to pass on to our children.