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2018 WEDDING GUIDE Samira wears her dress for her wedding celebrations in America Peter and Samira Essa. THEN AND NOW continued from page 27 bassy to stay in a hotel run by Chaldeans for protection. The newlyweds barely saw each other for the next two weeks. “I was on the rooftop of our home one afternoon when my sister came in to tell me my husband was there to see me,” recalled Samira. “I never rushed so fast to finish a bath before in my life. I wrapped myself in this beautiful white robe my sister bought me.” “She came down and I saw her with her hair wrapped in a towel,” said Peter. “I looked at him as I walked down the stairs and at that moment fell in love,” said Samira. “I had no idea what love was until that moment.” Wanting desperately to start her new life with her new husband, Samira mustered up the courage to go to Abd al- Karim Qasim’s residence that was heavily guarded. Peter hid a couple of blocks away behind trees. “I was too scared to even speak English,” said Peter. “They hated America at the time,” noted Samira. “We did not want the government to know I married an American.” Shaking and tearful, Samira asked the guards at the door to see Qasim. “The guards looked at me like was crazy and even George and Susie Essa. asked me if I was crazy,” she said. “I explained that I got married and wanted to move to America with my husband. One guard asked if I had my passport and told me that Qasim would certainly tear it to shreds if he got his hands on it.” Samira took the risk. The guards grabbed her purse and threw it to the ground. Another guard approached and saw her, asking what she wanted. They explained and to the surprise of the military forces guarding Qasim The Prime Minister agreed to see the 17-year-old. “I walked up the stairs with guards on each side of me lined up all the way the stairs,” she recalled. “I began to cry more and shake more. I entered the room and there sat Qasim. He looked at me and stood from 28 CHALDEAN NEWS 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
