Written during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), “Laylat El Milad” [On the Night of Christmas] is a beautiful Maronite hymn.
Sadly, the lyrics of this Arabic Christmas carol, which is about war, remain timely in the Land of the Cedars. This post ends with an English translation (https://shorturl.at/7Ndab).
Bravo to the unique voice of Ms. Hiba Tawaji, which conveys the spirit of Christmas, namely of love and peace.
May love and peace prevail in Lebanon and in the entire Middle East, not just on the night of Christmas, but throughout the coming days, weeks, and years.
“Refrain On the night of Christmas, hatred will vanish On the night of Christmas, the earth blooms On the night of Christmas, war is buried On the night of Christmas, love is born
1. When we offer a glass of water to a thirsty person, we are in Christmas When we clothe a naked person with a gown of love, we are in Christmas When we wipe the tears from weeping eyes, we are in Christmas When we cushion a hopeless heart with love, we are in Christmas
2. When I kiss a friend without hypocrisy, I am in Christmas When the spirit of revenge dies in me, I am in Christmas When hardness is gone from my heart, I am in Christmas When my soul melts in the being of God, I am in Christmas”
Mr. Ove Samuelson’s beautiful picture was taken from Campbell’s Funeral Home website. May his memory be eternal.
It is hard for Bambi to find words to express her deep sorrow about Ove Samuelsen to her spouse (and vice versa). So how can she publicly honour their friend on her blog if she remains speechless?
She may be speechless indeed. Yet she is grateful for having had the chance to spend precious moments with Ove not just in July but also shortly before he left our world.
Beyond these brief yet highly precious moments, she is forever thankful and HONOURED to have had her life touched by Ove in so many meaningful and sweet ways.
For instance, she will always recall how Louis and her met him, first in a business setting. Then, a beautiful friendship developed over the years with him and his beloved wife Pat.
Like all their friends (many have been like family to them for several decades), Bambi and Louis are fond of Ove’s (and Pat’s) beautiful and talented family (children and grand-children!). Bambi’s heart goes to each one of them now, whether she met them or not.
Many readers, including Bente and Bambi’s own dad, will be sad by this post (William too if he is reading). However, Ove’s inspiring life story, shared by his family in a moving obituary (https://shorturl.at/I157Y) will uplift them in many ways. Indeed, like Bambi, they will recognize Ove as:
(1) the brilliant/clever yet humble, truthful, diplomatic, and supportive lawyer. Indeed, “Ove practiced law in Sackville for over 50 years and was a member of the New Brunswick Law Society and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. Over his long career he practiced mostly family, collaborative and real estate law. It was a long-running joke between family, friends and colleagues all wondering if Ove would, indeed, ever retire” (https://shorturl.at/I157Y)
(2) the man filled with humanity and with a pure heart. He was a spouse, father, host father (for over two decades!), and a caring (+ cute) friend. He was highly respected and loved in our town. He loved everyone, humans and dogs. They all loved him back, dogs as well as humans. He was a GREAT man who was MUCH talented in nurturing and keeping his inner child alive.
(3) the guy who loved his family beyond words and who cherished life. How can his life dare to come to its end then? Yes, sadly he died (like all of us one day, God knows when). However, he will forever remain alive in our hearts!
This being said, if there is anything that Bambi is happy about, it is to have introduced Ove to her parents during one of their four visits to Sackville. Ove and Antoine chatted about technology. Like two excited teenagers, they spent time enjoying their phone and iPad devices.
Of note, Bambi will forever honour her Friday memories with Ove and Pat. (et al.!) at the real and even virtual Ducky’s [bar in town] during pandemic times.
Of course, there are other lovely moments of friendship with Ove of both depth as well as lightness and laughter. A recent example of a deep moment of care was Ove’s heart-warming expressed concern about Bambi’s family in Beirut.
In sum, many thanks to our beloved Ove Samuelsen for having existed. He surely made our world and town a much better place. May his memory be eternal.
With much love, Bambi sends her positive vibes to her friend “Pat (Patricia Mott Samuelsen), to her (and Ove’s) children, “Eric Samuelsen, Christian Samuelsen (Michele Chappaz) and Anna Samuelsen (Rob Kleinmeyer)”, to their “grandchildren, Devin Samuelsen, Freia Samuelsen, Samuel Kleinmeyer and Ava Kleinmeyer, to Ove’s brother, Jan L. Samuelsen, to “his niece, Janna Ellsmere, and to his “nephew, Kendall Samuelsen” (https://shorturl.at/I157Y).
In addition to Ove’s family and relatives, lots of courage to all his friends (Bambi is thinking of each one of them without naming them all). Same wishes and love to his staff/team who loved him dearly, namely Sandra and Kyle.
To conclude this tribute, may God know how to comfort Ove’s family members, especially Pat. May Ove Samuelsen’s beautiful values and outlook in life guide them in their grief journey while inspiring them to live life to the fullest.
Which victory are the Huthis talking about when they hail the (damaged) Hezbollah, which dragged Lebanon into a cruel war on October 8, 2023 (https://shorturl.at/6u7gZ)?
Which victory are Hezbollah fans (some kids) celebrating with two fingers or expressing with photography, flags, firework, or gunshots?
Since when are trauma, massive destruction of a country, displacement, injuries, and mortality signs of victory?
History repeats itself in the Land of the Cedars and, sadly, no lesson seems to have been learned. In 2006, there was a post-war slogan of “divine victory“. in 2024, this exact type of delusion remains pervasive, at least in some.
To come back to the odd Huthis, the focus of this post, did you know that the slogan on their flags is shamelessly: Allah (= God) is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam“ (https://shorturl.at/Lc9Fk)?
This lovely slogan was the topic of an old post shown below. Back then, the USA removed this group from the list of terrorists. That was clearly a mistake, in Bambi’s humble non-expert citizen opinion. Look where we are now. At least now, Mr. Biden re-put them on this so-called terrorist list. At least now, there is a ceasefire, which is surely wiser than fire. Thanks for the efforts to stop the madness, even if a ceasefire is always delicate, risky, and even scary, to say the least.
Hopefully one day we will observe neutrality of Lebanon toward all, including but not limited to Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iran, USA, Europe,etc. Lebanon should be put first by all, including the Hezbollah. Without the latter, no ceasefire can work since the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. As far as Bambi is concerned, she has an impossible dream for her birth country and it is called peace (after healing), not just ceasefire: Live and let live on each side of all borders, including the South one with Israel.
This being said, a question about the Huthis that begs itself now: How can we trust a group with such a low level of spirituality, civility, and humanity when they pretend to support the people of Lebanon and their so-called “Victory”? It is clear that they are blinded by their Islamist mindset, which has been fully weaponized by Iran for its own strategic and nuclear interests. This mindset is SAD news for the beautiful religion of Islam, to begin with. Imagine how sad it would be to the rest of the world then, not just the Middle East.
To end this note on a more beautiful note, Bambi will leave you with: (1) a picture of the Lebanese army ready to be deployed in the South of the country. All the best to each of these soldiers who sadly paid a heavy price in a war they did not even participate in. Too bad we did not see such picture in 2006 following war. Over the years, even UNIFL did not, or could not, prevent this tragic war. Indeed, back then, sadly, Iran, through Hezbollah and its allies or enablers (domestically and internationally), decided to act differently; and (2) warm wishes to her relatives, friends, readers, and neighbours for their American Thanksgiving (Huthis, you can relax and ignore this, despite your slogan of death wishes)! May everyone be safe and merry ❤️!
Yesterday before sleep, as a break from the news of senseless violence abroad, Bambi listened partly to Christmas melodies and partly to Mr. Patrick Norman’s beautiful songs. Bambi likes them all and her favourite is “Quand on est en amour” [When We Are in Love].
This French-Canadian song is apparently about romantic love. Indeed, it describes how the heart becomes lighter when we are in love (despite a history of love disappointments). Yet, love is love. So, the song would also apply to love of others, fellow humans or pets, in the simplest, broadest, and most unconditional sense of the term.
To conclude this musical post, this song will be offered to a friend in Ontario whose second name is “habibi” and he knows why, to dearest Jacinthe on her birthday ❤️, and to this blog’s dear readers, especially to those who have the courage, civility, and at times humility, to open their hearts to others’ humanity… well, this brings back to love :)!
“Alors, vive l’amour sous toutes ses formes et… merci cher Monsieur Norman”!
The Abraham Accords (2022) were a piece of good news that preceded the current round of DARK times of the Middle East. Think of it, these historic accords resulted in the United Arab Emirates and Israel building economic ties. This key step toward peace and development, instead of continuous hatred and destruction, was the clever work of the former administration of Mr. Trump (i.e., Mr. Jared Kushner, a young American businessman-investor). Why is Bambi saying so? Because she is fed up of wars and she strongly believes in the following: reason to solve conflicts (not ghosting or boycotting), business mindset, development, openness, collaborations, peace (live and let live), and even eventually love among both individuals and nations.
Bearing the above in mind, it is with much sadness that Bambi learned about the assassination of Mr. Zvi Kogan, a young ultra-orthodox rabbi who operated Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery in Dubai (https://tinyurl.com/mrxetvhh). May his soul rest in peace and memory be eternal. May the same G-D/God/Allah support his family. May love, not just peace, prevail in the Middle East and in the entire world.
The world lost Mr. Charles Dumont today at age 95 ( https://shorturl.at/fi6I7). What a highly talented French singer-songwriter. May his soul rest in peace… and long live his BEAUTIFUL song, “Non, je ne regrette rien” [No Regrets]!
A picture taken from the internet posted earlier on this blog.
As older or newer immigrants, we leave Lebanon yet it does not leave us.
From crisis to crisis, from war to war, from tragedy to tragedy, it follows us.
It is constantly in our hearts and prayers, even when we take an emotional distance.
How will Lebanon survive the current absurd yet CRUEL war of others on it? When and how will the latter end?
Will a settlement to end war in the Middle East be at the expense of Lebanon?
So many questions awaiting answers.
In the meantime, the shelling is intensifying and the people of the land of the Cedars cannot take it anymore.
It is Bambi’s hope that the spirit of the Lebanese anthem, entitled “All For The Homeland” [Kuluna Lil Watan in Arabic], will prevail when the cannons will fall silent and the skies of Lebanon will be free from drones and military airplanes.
