Mr. Nagi Sukkarieh playing the piano: Can music heal our pain?

His name is Mr. Nagi Sukkarieh.

He is FULL of talent.

If you do not believe Bambi, just listen to the video showing him playing the piano and see for yourself!

Before doing so, you may be curious to know: who is Mr. Sukkarieh?

Mr. Sukkarieh is Bambi’s good friend from her childhood neighbourhood in Beirut.

Specifically, he is one of Marina’s brothers.

Well, Marina (now in Los Angeles) is initially a friend of her sister Roula, in addition to being a good friend of her other sister Rania and a friend of Amale, a friend in Montreal (also from their same neighborhood). Let’s call her another sister to them/us all. It is simpler :). Seriously, it tells you something about Marina and her family. Everyone loves the Sukkariehs.

To come back to Mr. Nagi Sukkarieh, he is not just a friend of Bambi but of her entire family.

Mr. Sukkarieh’s heart is aching for his beloved Beirut, capital of his birth country.

Naturally, he turned to his piano.

Generously, he accepted Bambi’s invitation to share his music on her blog. She is grateful and honoured.

Thank you, Dear Nagi, for reminding Bambi that music can heal our pain.

This being said, let Bambi tell you more about her friend Nagi:

Mr. Sukkarieh immigrated to the United States at a young age, over 3-4 decades ago.

He is an accomplished engineer in New Jersey, USA.

He is a devoted father and a loving spouse.

He is also an amazingly caring sibling to his talented sister and brother (hello Marina and Michel, Bambi misses seeing you too!).

He grew up in Beirut on the same street as Bambi’s family. Hence the strong ties.

For those who do not know it, neighbours do have a significant place in people’s hearts in Lebanon. These ties are even deeper, during a civil war, when everyone is in a survival yet supportive mode.

Like Bambi, the Beirut explosions hit close to home, for him and his family.

On a lighter note, Bambi will always remember when she visited New York (NY) with Mirella and Lea in 1994. Bambi was so happy to chat with Nagi on the phone to the point that she prevented her friends from sleeping. Indeed, Mr. Sukkarieh and her connected by phone late at the end of that day (after his work). At one point, Bambi forgot the time and started laughing in the middle of the night to stories and memories from their Beirut neighborhood. OK, Bambi admits that that was not thoughtful on her behalf, especially that she usually cares for her friends’ well-being. Well, luckily Mirella and Lea did not kill her that night, even if they were exhausted from their long bus trip. Of course, they forgave her when they met Nagi the second day. Like Bambi, they were touched by his kind spirit. MANY years later, this silly story remains a funny memory of their NY trip.

Many years following the above story, the 911 tragedy devastated NY and impacted us all. Well, until now, Bambi connects every year with the Sukkariehs by email to remember and honour innocent people who died in this catastrophe. Lately, it was moving for Bambi to hear many Beirutis call their surrealistic blasts “their own 911“, as reported in the international media.

To come back to music and conclude this post, let’s borrow the beautiful and famous words of Mr. Gibran Khalil Gibran (another Lebanese-American, 1883-1931):

“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”

May music, love, and compassion prevail in Beirut.

May music bring healing, closure, peace, and hope to all.

May Beirutis succeed in re-building their lives, slowly but surely, despite their grieving hearts, injured bodies, destroyed houses, psychological trauma (in addition to coping with their country’s financial crisis and the covid-19 pandemic).

May justice be served for all the victims. Until then, may music help everyone alive in hanging on to life… Of course, not an easy task when we feel shattered deep inside.