During the Colonial rule: During the war of the mid 1920’s Great Grand Father Hanna lost everything. His children were very young at the time. His family was left with nothing. Everything in their home in Rashaya was stolen by the soldiers (the soldiers were arab as well). With no money, holding nothing but the cloths they wore, they were forced to run or risk dying under fire. Grand Uncle Tanal was 5 or 6 years old at the time and he remembers clearly the shooting and the sound of bombs and running to a car. The car belonged to a French lady (who looked wealthy-‐in Tanal’s words:-‐) & who felt empathy for our family and helped our Great Grand parents Hanna and Wadia and 3 very young children get into her car and had her driver drive as fast as he can out from under the fire. Great Grand Father Hanna was forced to live at one of Wadia’s brother’s house in Beirut. He didn’t have a penny in his pocket & didn’t feel welcomed. He went through a lot of pain which didn’t stop him from moving forward in his passion of building a new home and providing a secure future for his family. He tied a ragged old cloth with pockets around his waste and sold whatever he was able to hold on his back for whatever amount of money he was able to get. He saved every penny and dime he made along with the insurance money he got for losing his home in Rashaya until he summed up just enough to get his own humble place. It wasn’t much–per Grand Uncle’s words but it was their own and they weren’t made to feel demoralized anymore. It took Great Grand Father Hanna a few years to provide for his family and to grow his family with 4 more kids….7 in all. He sold material but not just any kind of material. Sophisticated tailor suit fabric that became one of the most prestige businesses for many years to come. His taste and style remained popular and successful until his health deteriorated. He died at 60 years young. He was proud that his sons took over the business and continued the success he always worked to achieve. ((This is one of many stories told to me by our Grand Uncle Tanal who is 98 years old today and Grand Aunt Laurice who died a few years ago. I hope their story fills your hearts with the kind of love they had for family. My take from listening to them recount stories is that they experienced limitations in their options throughout their lives for various reasons. Yet their beautiful sense of humor and joie to vie and their morals and values ….it’s what we all share. Right ? An 1860 civil war between Druze and Maronites erupted in the Ottoman province of Mount Lebanon, which had been divided between them in 1842. It resulted in the massacre of about 10,000 Christians. The 1860 druzo maronite war was considered by the druze as a military victory and a political defeat. World War I was hard for the Lebanese. While the rest of the world was occupied with the World War, the people in Lebanon were suffering from a famine that would last nearly four years. With the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922), Turkish rule ended. France took control of the area under the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon under the League of Nations. The French created the state of Greater Lebanon as a safe haven for the Maronites, but included a large Muslim population within the borders. In 1926, Lebanon was declared a republic, and a constitution was adopted. However, the constitution was suspended in 1932. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_Civil_War
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