FEBRUARY 2018

this chair fit for a king. He asked me
who I was and what I wanted. Speaking
Arabic, I explained.”
He looked at the young woman
and questioned why she would want
to go the United States. “I tried explaining
that I had just gotten married
but he was so upset that I would
want to leave Iraq.”
He asked her for her passport.
“Surprising he stamped it and signed
it. He put his stamp right over King
Faisal’s stamp and signed it. His vice
president or whoever he was also
stamped it and signed it. He then
walked over to me, patted my back
and said, ‘don’t ever forget your Arabic.’
He blessed me and sent me on
my way. I was in shock.”
Qasim ordered his guards to escort
her back to the front doors.
“The same guards that laughed at me
when I walked in were actually saluted
me,” said Samira. “They could
not believe what happened. I felt like
a queen at that moment.”
The couple left Iraq for Egypt. The
American Embassy in Iraq had been
blown to pieces in the revolution.
They needed to finalize their paperwork
in Egypt. From there they flew
to Europe and eventually to New York.
“Peter was on the phone at the time
talking to his mother,” said Samira.
“He was telling her we arrived in the
United States. While he was busy on
the phone, he didn’t hear the last call
for our flight. I didn’t understand English
so we missed our flight to Detroit.”
“It was a good thing,” said Peter.
“When we finally arrived at Willow
Run, we heard the flight we were supposed
to be on crashed and people died.”
There was a large group of Peter’s
friends and family waiting
for the couple at the airport. “My
George and Susie Essa.
friends actually had bets I would not
get married,” Peter chuckled.
This June, Samira and Peter Essa
will celebrate their 60-year anniversary
as Peter turns 93 on the same day.
Although the traditions have
changed over time and across the
ocean, the Chaldean wedding ceremony
is still very cherished. Today,
there are about 500 wedding ceremonies
that take place in the St. Thomas
Chaldean Catholic Diocese each
year. There are many American traditions
that have been incorporated
in Chaldean weddings such as having
a ring boy and flower girl or buying
gifts for the bridal party. The bridal
dance and father/daughter dance are
all part of the American culture.
“Our prayers and our blessings
are the same,” said Fr. Boji. “That is
the most important part of the wedding.
The ceremony and the Sacrament.”
FEBRUARY 2018 CHALDEAN NEWS 29