Waleed J. Iskandar

~ Biography (1967-2001) ~

(By Joseph)


     Waleed was born in Beirut, Lebanon on August 25 1967. It was a blessed day for us. He was our last child, following a daughter, May, born in 1962 and a son, Sany, born in 1963. We thanked God for giving us three beautiful children with the image of Jesus Christ on their faces.

     Waleed, being the youngest, always had the chance to experience things that his sister and brother, who were five years and four years older than him, had not yet seen. He had the privilege of mingling with the friends of his older siblings, thus he was being exposed to facts of life, kids of his age were not familiar with. This is what usually happens in families who have children with a difference in age of four years. The younger child will get to know things that his older siblings never had experienced when they were at his infantile age.

     Here is where the rivalry started. Waleed will try to follow the image of his older brother, Sany. So, he was doing more than normal to achieve the same results of a four years older brother. From the start, Waleed could do much. He could follow the soccer results between the British teams at a boyish age. He could play tennis at an early age. He started traveling when he was four years old (his sister was nine and his brother was eight, then we thought that it is high time to travel and see the world with our kids).

     There are more than one story to recount from Waleed's. But there is one which I could never explain. We were in Geneva, Switzerland. Waleed was six years old. One day, we decided to have lunch at a famous restaurant called "Entre Cote". The decor was superb. The minute we were inside, Waleed said: "I know this place. I have been here before." His sister, May, asked him "How could you be here before. We are here for the first time in our life?". What was going in his head? I still wonder!

     Waleed was 12 years old, when we attended the summer festival in Verona. We sat in the Arena holding the lighted candles in our hands and singing the operatic songs of the Italian people. He used to enjoy all types of music. He started piano lessons, but he was never much interested in playing the piano.
His first trip to the USA was in 1976. We came to visit my brother George who lives in Northridge, CA. Los Angeles is the city for tourists and especially kids of Waleed's age. He was a visitor to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood and he enjoyed them all. We did visit the campus of California State University at Northridge. The kids promised themselves to come back and have their college years on the campus. Their promise was fulfilled. In the year 1980, May and Sany were enrolled at CSUN. Waleed stayed with us in Kuwait. He was our center of attraction for the four years until he came of age to go to College. Many week ends Waleed and I have spent going around in Kuwait, showing him the different construction sites that I used to build. He was so impressed with the work.

     In 1983, we enrolled Waleed at Sears Roebuck driving school. When he became sixteen years old, he took the driving test and got his driving license. He used to boast about it and show it to his classmates in Kuwait, ( the driving age in Kuwait is 18 years ).

     When Waleed graduated from Stanford, we thought that he will live with us at home. So, we renewed the furniture in his bedroom. We bought a new bed and a new working desk with filing cabinet and all the extras that go with it. There were his favorite paintings on the walls. There were his graduation photos on the desk. We were so glad that once more Waleed will be living with us alone like the days when his brother and sister left Kuwait for college in the USA. Waleed went on with our plans for two months. Then, he moved to his own apartment. he could not stay for long in one city. After six months, he moved once more to Boston.

     Waleed was a man of adventure and planning. The first thing he did in Boston was to look for a house. He found one in Beacon street. A month later, an apartment in the floor above came on the market. So, he bought it. The next step he did was to start his construction project, connecting both apartments by means of an internal stairway. It took a year to finish. But, he got a very beautiful duplex apartment. We thought that now is the right time when he will be looking for his life-partner. No, we were wrong. Waleed, being what he was, enrolled in Harvard Business School. He wanted the best of everything.
Waleed never stopped his sport activities. He bought a boat which he used on week ends to improve on his water ski talent. He bought a sport bike and was a member of Harvard bicycle team. One time he had an accident while he was on the bike. A truck was coming on the opposite direction and Waleed had to get off the road. He landed on his side and hurt his knee. He had to undergo surgery. His knee was in cast for some time. But, after the removal of the cast, Waleed went back to water skiing and cycling as energetic as he was before the accident.
(To be continued)
(Next - The Kuwait Years)

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