What’s up, Dispatchers! Thank you for submitting your questions for this month’s Mailbag. I’m writing to you today about one week after celebrating six months at The Dispatch. It’s gone by so quickly—what’s that they say about time when you’re having fun?
I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing writers and editors and engaging with all of you. Now, I get to talk to a bunch of our members directly, so let’s get right into it.
On Genealogy: How We Got Here
I have to give priority to a certain Holly Berndt-Hilu, who said I was doing “fabulous work at The Dispatch so far.” (I love you too, Mom.) In perhaps somewhat of a leading question, she asked me to share “an interesting fun fact” from our family’s genealogy work. Thanks to our Cousin Dave, who has done extensive research into our family history, I can let you all in on the most interesting fact.
My ninth great-grandmother, Rebecca Eames, lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and the history buffs in the audience might be able to see where this is going. On August 19, 1692, she was in Salem watching the hanging of accused witches, including John Proctor, whose name readers of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible will recognize. Another woman who was spectating said she had a pin in her foot and blamed Rebecca.
The Court of Oyer and Terminer examined her twice, and three girls—including Mary Warren, another Crucible character—accused her of afflicting them. During that ordeal, Rebecca made false confessions in the hope that she would be spared from execution. She was convicted and thrown in prison in mid-September with eight other people. Days later, authorities executed four of them—but not Rebecca.
Massachusetts Bay Gov. William Phips dissolved the court the following month, and the prosecutions began to wind down. That was good fortune for Rebecca, who in December retracted her confession and begged for a pardon from Phips. She was released from prison in March 1693, but her husband, Robert, died just a few months after. Nearly two decades went by until she and others who were falsely accused received restitution in 1711. She died at the age of 82 in 1721.
And that’s the story of how one of my ancestors survived the Salem Witch Trials. She had already had children of her own at that point, so I would still be here writing this Mailbag even if she had been executed. But I am, of course, grateful for her survival nonetheless.
On Lebanese Food
That’s the most interesting part of my genealogy on my mom’s side. On my dad’s side, I descend from Lebanese immigrants who came to the United States in the early 1900s. I’ve always viewed my heritage as a very American one; one side of my family has been here since the 17th century, while the other made the journey that so many travelers did in search of a better life. In that regard, I feel that I can appreciate both the greatness of the Founding Fathers as well as the importance of allowing others to become adopted into the tradition they established and pursue the American Dream.
Others at The Dispatch can talk about all that much more eloquently than I can, so I’ll stick to Lebanese food here, as Richard Kennedy asked me to. He said his favorite is kibbeh nayeh, a raw dish of minced lamb, bulgur wheat, and spices. A fine choice indeed, though it is one I first tried only recently. My favorite, however, would have to be stuffed grape leaves. They consist of meat, rice, and other ingredients wrapped up in, well, grape leaves. My grandma—Sitee, we called her in Arabic—would always make them the best. Now that she’s passed on, my dad and my two aunts make them with the same recipe. Don’t ask me whose are better.
Most Sundays, my family would go to Dearborn, the town in Michigan with the most authentic Middle Eastern cuisine. I’d usually get crushed lentil soup and shish tawook chicken with rice, and after eating we would often go to a nearby bakery to get baklava and other Lebanese sweets. Unfortunately, I would only be able to eat the sweets for a short time. Why? H.W. guessed it right, that I “have a food allergy, perhaps to nuts, that keeps [me] from enjoying delicious Lebanese treats.” Heading into my teenage years, I developed an allergy to pistachios, cashews, and walnuts—and since many Lebanese desserts include at least one of those, my selection is rather limited.
On My Catholic Faith
Aylene Wright is an attentive reader. Seeing one bullet point about Lebanon and another about Catholicism, she was able to put two and two together. “I happen to be acquainted with other Lebanese Catholics, so I wonder, are you Maronite, or Melkite, or Chaldean? Or some other type of Eastern Catholic?” she asked.
Like many Lebanese Catholics, I’m Maronite, a member of one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. They are distinct from the Latin—i.e., Roman Catholic—Church in that their liturgy and other factors are a bit different. Maronite priests are allowed to be married, for example, although it’s uncommon in the United States. Nonetheless, these churches share the same dogma and are in full communion with the pope in Rome. I grew up attending a Maronite parish on Sundays but going to a Roman Catholic school that required students to attend Mass every Wednesday, so I’ve had a foot in each church for a long time. While there is a Maronite parish in Washington, D.C., which I visit occasionally, I normally attend a Roman Catholic church in Arlington.
I sang in the choir at my school growing up, and do so today at my parish. (A fun aside: A few months before I began working at The Dispatch, I met associate editor Luis Parrales at a party. A member of the same church, he said he had a “weird question” and asked if I sang in our choir.) Rpvjack requested my list of favorite hymns. There are some very beautiful Maronite hymns, such as “Arsala Allah,” usually sung in a novena leading up to Christmas. Growing up, my school used some more folksy or contemporary styles, so I came to love “Lord of the Dance.” Now, my choir sings some more traditional hymns, and that has exposed me to “Faith of Our Fathers” and “Panis Angelicus.” And I would be remiss not to mention Marian hymns such as “Immaculate Mary” (both the Roman and Maronite versions) and “Hail Holy Queen.” The Thirsting, a Catholic punk rock band, does a great rendition of the last one—as does the cast of Sister Act.
Our own Victoria Holmes asked for my “favorite saint and why?” I feel that I have the strongest devotion to St. Joseph, whose intercession has helped me deepen my faith. He also provides an example of masculinity for me as a 23-year-old attempting to make his way in the world and trust God while he’s doing it. I would highly recommend Fr. Donald Calloway’s Consecration to St. Joseph, which I have begun to do yearly. Otherwise, St. Rafka is the patron of the Maronite parish I went to growing up, so I’ve long known about her. She was a nun who asked that she receive suffering as Jesus endured on the Cross, and boy did God grant her that. Throughout her very difficult life, she remained patient and content amid her ordeals. Finally, though I have no Mexican heritage at all, I do love the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and have always taken comfort in Mary saying to St. Juan Diego, “Am I not here, who am your Mother?”
On the University of Michigan and Detroit Sports
One of my other great passions is cheering for the wonderful sports teams that represent the University of Michigan and the city of Detroit. Gerritt Smits asked for my earliest memories and favorite moments.
I’m an only child, but I do have a few first cousins, and I remember going to Tigers games with them when I was about six years old. I have a vivid memory from around that time of Ryan Raburn, who played on the Tigers for a bit but is not quite a legend by any means, hitting an inside-the-park home run. The only problem? I wasn’t paying attention, so I missed it!
But my best early sports memory came in 2008, when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. The school year was just wrapping up, and the victory parade fell on field day, so I skipped school and went with my dad—one of our earliest father-son bonding moments.
I got to witness some great Michigan football moments in my college years. The 2021 season was a surprise. We had just come off a 2-4 record during the pandemic-shortened season, and analysts and pundits generally expected us to be pretty bad. But Coach Jim Harbaugh revamped his style and led us to a Big Ten Championship, defeating Ohio State for the first time since 2011 along the way (a game I got to witness at the Big House). The best part of that game came during one of its final drives, when running back Hassan Haskins got the ball and hurdled a man near the endzone. That was the moment I knew we were going to win. The crowd roared after we got the last defensive stop we needed, but I remember my brain tuning out all the noise and taking a mental picture of all the Michigan players celebrating on the field. It was a scene I’ll never forget.
Before we move on, I do need to briefly address two things. First, General Darden commented that the Big House was “thoroughly cleaned” by the Texas Longhorns, referring to the game that occurred the day before my original solicitation for questions was published. We did, however, recently beat the USC Trojans in our Big Ten opener, and we will have (hopefully) defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers the day before this is published. Let’s have some hope for this season. Second, Mark Boersma asked what I can say to his brother, “a lifelong Tigers fan, to give him hope.” What I can say is that the Detroit Tigers are, as of my writing this, the hottest team in baseball. By the time this is published, we may have clinched a playoff spot.
On High School Theater
I will admit that my sports fandom waned when I was in high school, when my interest was mainly theater, which Doc to Some asked about. To sum it up, I went to an all-boys Catholic high school, which didn’t have the largest theater program. The all-girls school nearby would put on a fall play and a spring musical, and boys from my and other schools would audition for their shows. My school, in turn, would borrow some of their girls for our annual spring play once their season wrapped up. That leads me to Jack’s question, which was about the coolest play I’ve ever participated in. It’s hard to pick one, and I’ll take “play” here to include musicals as well. The most ambitious was probably Newsies, in which I was a featured newsboy. But I also played Helen Keller’s father, Capt. Keller, in The Miracle Worker, which was a beautiful story.
Fvirnellijr asked what my most challenging role was. That would have to be Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables. Getting a chalkboard slate smashed over my head was pretty fun, but it was difficult to nail the maturation of Gilbert from a young boy to a grown man who gives up a teaching position at the local school to Anne. That latter scene was a “tender moment,” as our director put it, and I had trouble getting the tone. Still, that is probably my favorite role I ever played.
Mary Stine wondered what my favorite musicals were and if I’d seen Hamilton. I’ll deal with the second question first. The answer is that I have seen Hamilton both on Broadway and on tour, and it was very good both times. As for my favorites, the first would have to be The Secret Garden. Based on the book of the same name, it follows the story of Mary Lennox, who travels to her uncle’s manor in Yorkshire after her parents pass away in India. There, she gives a new lease on life to her uncle, Archibald—who is haunted by the death of his wife, Lily—largely through bringing back to life the garden Lily had left behind. I took voice lessons for about a year, and one of my go-to songs was “Winter’s on the Wing,” which Dickon, a boy who helps tend the manor’s grounds, sings to introduce himself to the audience. I fell in love with the rest of the music, and I had the honor of playing Dickon in a community theater production of the show. Otherwise, perhaps predictably, I do love 1776, which tells the story of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson convincing the Second Continental Congress to declare independence. A great story, of course, and the music is awesome.
That’s all from me! Thank you for sending your questions and for being part of our wonderful community of Dispatch members. We could not do the work we do without all of you.
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