> October 11th marks the 2nd anniversary of my daughter Kendi's death. A nurse's mistake took her life at the age of 20. The job of this father was to protect her [she was severely handicapped] and I failed. Oh, how I miss her.
 

Beirut As I Remember Her

I was three years old when we left Beirut Lebanon for Washington, D.C. While most of the memories are cloudy, a few distinct remembrances remain to this day, some 46 years later.

We lived in an apartment house right on the Mediterranean Sea. Often, we would swim in the sea during the morning, and then after a lunch and short nap, we would head to the mountains for a day of skiing. As I remember, the trip took thirty minutes as the most. The photo above shows the close proximity between the sea and the mountains above the city.

Beirut had a cornice around the city. The cornice was a walkway that bordered the Mediterranean. In the evening, the people would put on their nice clothes and walk the cornice, enjoying the warm evening as well as the cool ocean breeze.

Along the way, tradesman sold their wares. a I particularly remember one peanut vendor, who would wrap his roasted peanuts in a cone made of newspaper. He had a trained monkey who was trained to take the money from the customer. The man was very old, and wore a fez hat. I'm the litle kid on the right in the above picture.

Take a look at this picture I found on another person's blog. It's a picture of that same cornice taken 45 years later. Look at the people still walking in the cool summer's eve. Look at the vendor selling his wares.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.


Comments:
I hope you can come back and visit the city of your childhood today. You'll love her all over again.
 
Dear Mr. Rushdi,
I am preparing a book abt Beirut in the 60s n 70s and all the profit will go to the Children Cancer Center (st Jude) at AUH (American University Hospital). I am asking your authorisation to use the black n white picture on the corniche. If it is ok with can you pls email me theHi res version to ikozem@gmail.com ?
Thank you.
Imad Kozem.
 
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