Preserve the Roots

In 1995, we had a combined Salomon family reunion and 50th wedding anniversary for my grandparents (John Salomon & Widad Isaac) in Flint, Michigan. With the help of my great-grandmother and others, my cousin Nora Moncada, put together a Salomon family history book. She was able to get stories from older family members and record them in English & Spanish.

I'd like to share this story about my great-great grandparents, Juan (Hanna) & Miladeh, taken from the book:

Sido (Hanna Rishmawi) was a very good looking man, tall, green eyes, broad shoulders, and of good complexion. He was very cheerful, wanted and respected by all those who knew him in Palestine and Honduras. Their house in Palestine was always full of people wanting advice and help of some kind, also in their house lived several people, Clara and Hanne after their parents died, Rosa who was adopted in Honduras when she was a little girl, and Uncle Johnny (my grandfather). All these people lived there until they got married. Clara married Alfonso Salomon (Rishmawi), Rosa married George Andoni. (Unsure of who Hanne married).

Sido owned a donkey which he would take to the nearest village to buy goods and supplies they needed at home. The donkey was famous among the children because Sido would give them a donkey ride around town, especially Azizeh's children.

When Uncle Johnny (my grandfather) moved back to Honduras to be with his parents (Khalil Rishmawi & Miladeh Habbas), Sido & Siti decided to move to Honduras also. They had began to feel lonely especially since Azizeh and Rosa had gotten married and moved out of the house.

In Honduras, they were glad to have a full warehouse and Sido loved being at the rice mill. One day at the rice mill, Sido slipped and broke his hip. They took him to the Hospital in la Lima, where he spent the next two months. After that he had to stay in bed and every day he got weaker until his death. The family doctor told the family that Sido had had prostate cancer.

Miladeh (Siti), was not so pretty. She was of average to slightly tall stature and somewhat robust and very friendly. One day Manuela (my great-grandmother) bought a fish and Siti said she wants to prepare it for breakfast. After breakfast, she was going to come back to the store. Manuela was getting hungry and when Siti didn't show up at the store, she sent an employee to call for her. She came crying and told Manuela that Siti was having some very strong stomach pains. Aziz called the doctor, who gave her some pain medicine. That night, Afifeh Faraj, a good friend of Manuela, stayed with her since Carlos was in Flint at the time. The next day, early in the morning, Manuela woke Aziz up to take Siti to the hospital in Tela. There, they were going to prepare her to go to the hospital in Lima. While in the hospital in Tela, Aziz & Manuela filled out paperwork and when they finished, they had found Siti already died. They had her body embalmed so that Carlos could come to the funeral, but he was unable to get a flight back in time.