TWO SUITCASES
By Celine Leduc edited by Norman Simon
Two suitcases is all that is left of a life.
For the Katbe family. One suitcase for the wife, the other for the
husband. They had four sons: they loved
them, taught them the ways of their world, educated them, and made sure they
married well. The sons immigrated to
Canada became Canadian citizens and yet have remained faithful to their country
of birth and their parents. Their sons
want the best for their parents.
They are from Syria and are Christians. Syria
is imploding and exploding. Civil unrest creates a very unhealthy climate that
degenerates into pandemonium, into civil war that turns into a full-fledged
war. Bombs explode, homes become empty shells. A bomb falls on the shell of a
deserted, abandoned home - a house explodes in thousand pieces. Whole streets turn into rubble; the man-made
tornado of war circles around like a hawk looking for food. Those warmongers
are hungry for power, for control. They kill the innocent, the unprotected, for
a piece of land, for greed, as they are hungry for power and control so they
can claim victory, plant a black flag tainted with the blood of those who died.
Their victory is built on death, the death of the innocent regardless of
religion or culture. Warmongers are warmongers - they worship the god of war,
of destruction, the god of hell, for their bombs create hell on earth.
Two suitcases for survival linking the peaceful
happy past with the traumatizing insecurity of the present and the uncertain,
traumatizing future. They have to leave their home as war rages on, a civil war
erupted, and a new enemy emerges making their flight an imperative. They flee
war to find safety and hopefully be able find peace and join their children in
Canada. A stopover in Lebanon, a visit
to the Canadian Consulate to make an application for immigration in order to
become residents of the country chosen by their sons, their wives and their
grandchildren.
Family
reunification is the order of the day, reunited families is on their
minds. War has caused division that
ripped families apart, forced some to flee to refugee camps full of horror and
fear, where intolerance is the weapon of choice and brutality becomes the
reality as life rarely matters and death is the release.
At 80, the old couple think what they should
bring. What matters is legacy. They leave behind their locked up home; and,
key in hand, they say farewell, not goodbye as they are hoping to come back
soon.
Two suitcases are packed carefully; two
suitcases, hopefully, a short stay at a relative’s home in Lebanon. They are
lucky they can avoid the danger of the camps. They have family in Lebanon, a
house to stay at for an ailing father and an aching worried mother. They make
their way to Lebanon, leaving their home near Aleppo for a dream of life in
Canada to spend their last days with their sons. The sons want them and work for their
parent’s safety. Personal tragedy, their father is ill very ill; his dream of
return is but a dream his death is a nightmare for his mom. She is a widow, without a husband to care for
her to make sure she can be protected.
She has her sons, four sons, who now are head of the family. Their duty
is to do for their mother what their father can no longer do: care for her,
make sure she is protected and fulfill the dream of going to Canada.
In her nightmare, her grief, she has a dream:
she can be a grandmother and a doting mother to her loving sons. Her sons, all Canadians, have jobs, and make
a pact, a promise, a pledge: their mom will not be alone. They will come stay
with their mom for two months each.
Petition the Canadian government to fast-track the refugee claimant, so
their loving and beloved mom can come to Canada as a resident.
The two suitcases were packed with love and are
the keepers of the past, are for the present and open the door to the
future. Legacy and origins matter. You
can see that past matters by the content of their suitcases. Two lives packed
in the suitcases filled with papers, birth and marriage certificates and last
will and testament. Photos of their wedding, their children which is the legacy
of their children growing up in Syria for their grandchildren living now in
Canada. The other part is their clothes
and travel items. One person now has the
two suitcases full of memory with one wish, one hope, to be reunited with
family.
We hear
of men doing evil deeds. They thrive on hate, create hell for all those living
on earth. Yet, there is another reality which is love, the love of a son
towards his mom, and the love of a mother for her sons. War causes not only
confusion, but also hate, anger, division, unrest, and even death. Families are
broken: fathers are killed, mothers abused, and children see what they should
not see or feel. War can also bring
about the reunification of a family - especially in Canada where we as
Canadians pride ourselves because of our humanitarian principles. We offer refuge to those who have none. There
is a fear of invasion or radicalization, of unrest and uprising. An old woman of 80 is not threat to security.
She saw war, she lived through it, and she now wants a few final years to dote
on her loving sons and grandchildren.
Her sons
will not forsake her as they live the commandment to "honor thy
parent." They will leave their own
wives and children to go and stay with their mom in Lebanon. In those two
months, the sons make sure they have enough money to care for their home in
Canada, pay bills, feed their family over here. No salary coming in, living off
savings. Money is not their motivation; it is family, it is life, a good life
for their mother. The hope she will be there to be a doting grandmother, a
mother-in-law and a mother.
On humanitarian grounds and for the love of family,
of surviving love please help this family, and fast-track their humanitarian
request. Make sure that a family is reunited out of love for an older woman
with two suitcases, who has four loving sons.
Video from CTV that speaks Mrs. Katbe http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/laval-man-urges-ottawa-to-fast-track-widow-mother-s-arrival-1.2594435#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=Facebook&_gsc=i1OWgjS
UPDATE: Mrs. Katbe will be coming to Canada
hopefully soon by the end of the year ---
we ask that her application be fast tracked so she can be reuinited with
her loving sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
