Story of TitaFINAL

T ITAThThee Sstotroy rofyTiotaf

By Ma[riAe ]Unes



T ITAThe story of

By Marie Unes

Copyright March 20, 2018
The 97th Anniversary of Tita’s birthday

On the front cover: Tita holding Rachel and Katherine,
Christmas 1986

On the back cover: The hand-sketched portrait of Tita,
created by Mari Khoury Briggs

The Story of Tita

Dedication
This book is the result of wanting my children and
grandchildren to “meet” TITA.
With encouragement and help from Diana, this has
been accomplished.
Tita was the most beautiful, wise, kind, strong and
empathetic LADY. Anyone who knew her loved her.

I dedicate this book to
Diana, Michael,

Raynah, Meghan, Nathan, Michelle, and Nicholas.
ENJOY!!!

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The Story of Tita

Acknowledgements
This book would never have come to fruition without
so many people!!
I would like to thank my daughter, Diana, for encour-
aging me to write this book, and for the work she did on
the layout and editing. Many thanks to my niece, Tina,
for her work with design and printing. They both put
many hours into this, and I will be forever grateful. I
also want to thank the people who sent pictures to me:
my daughter-in-law Natalie, and my sisters, brothers
and many cousins. I love you all and thank you from the
bottom of my heart!!!

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The Story of Tita

Preface

On the day that would have been my mom’s 96th
birthday, I got an unexpected and awesome visit from
Raynah. She was on Spring Break and wanted a short
visit with us before going home to Marion, IL. Diana had
planted the seed years earlier to write this book. Some-
how, seeing Raynah, I knew that time was here. I began
writing this book that day, and now, one year later, I
offer it to you. I pray all who read this will get an under-
standing of how much my mom meant to me.
I wrote this book because I wanted my grandchil-
dren to learn the story of my mother, their great-grand-
mother, my children’s Tita.
“Tita” is the Lebanese word for grandmother. My
mother, Genevieve, had many grandchildren, including
my own children, Diana and Michael, and they all lov-
ingly called her “Tita.” For me, my mother was the one
and only, the very best mother and the very best Tita for
my children. So when I myself became a grandmother, I
did not feel I should be called such a sacred title as held
by the one and only Tita, and I asked that my grandchil-
dren call me “Grandma,” a title I wear proudly.
Through the process of writing this book, however,
I have gradually come to realize that I too am a “Tita”
and that “The Story of Tita” is not only the story of my
mother, it is also the Story of Me.

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The Story of Tita

Family Outline

Martha & Sarkis Alwan (Genevieve’s parents)
Six children:
Antonius-information unknown
Simon-Three children and others unknown:
Rizk (Laurice)-children: Simon, Denise,
Kathy (Bob Couri)-children: Brian, Kristina
Tony (in Beirut)-daughter is Reina
Violette
[Genevieve was raised in Simon’s house from age three, so
Rizk was like her brother more than nephew]
John-information unknown
Najeebe-Five children:
Ivette (Yousef )-children: Sarkis, Bachos, Jamil
Ilda (Dumit)-children: Georgette, Mary, Janu, Abe
Jeanette (Farid)-children: Ray, Najeebe, Ilda, Tony,
Laurie
Hulia-children: Layla, Kamel, Jamil, Rose, Abe, Najeebe
Georgette (Jim)-children: Jim, Anna, Ivetta, Tim
Josephine-information unknown
Genevieve (Clement)-Seven children: Fran, Theresa, Marie,
Terry, Tom, Mark, Rosie

Anna & Thomas Joseph (Clement’s parents)
Five Children:
Joe (Wadia)-Three children:
Gloria (George)-children: Steve, Kathy
Julie (Larry)-children: Mike, Mark, Mitch, Michelle
Laurice
Mike (Mary)-Two children:
Mary
George (Barb in Cincinnati)
Clement (Genevieve)-children: Fran, Theresa, Marie,
Terry, Tom, Mark, Rosie
Rose- died of cancer
William- died when struck by a car while bike riding

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The Story of Tita

Genevieve & Clement Joseph (Married 1937, Aitou, Lebanon)
Seven children, 20 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren at
time of printing:
Fran (Sam Thomas)-Seven children, 23 grandchildren:
Angie (Rick): Alysa, Adam

Chris (Nina): Joe, Ryan, Christen, Sam
Danny (Debbie): Lauren (Mike), Danny Jr. (James), Drew
Monica (Jeff): Elizabeth, Emily, Nicholas, Samantha
Keith (Tina): Jeremiah, Aleece, Juliet, Anthony
Tina (Marlon): Marlon Jr., Braylon
Katie (Paul): Jacob, Matthew, Josh, Mary Kate

Theresa-died in 1955 at age 12. Struck by car while walking
to school.
Marie (Dave Unes)-Two children, Five grandchildren:
Diana (Greg): Raynah Genevieve
Michael (Natalie): Meghan, Nathan, Michelle, Nicholas
Terry (Loren Mischler)-Five children, 13 grandchildren at
at time of printing:
Matt (Jessi): Lucy, Jude, Jane, Emma
Molly (Andy): Caroline, Grace, Cora, Andrew, Olive
Jenny (Brian): Luke, Abby, Owen, Frederick
Anthony (Maggie)
Nicole
Tom (Marci)-Three children:
Rachel (Anand)
Louie
Mary Rose (Matthew)
Mark (Linda)-Three children, One grandchild at time
of printing:
Katherine (Jacob): Jackson
Tommy
Kristina (Jacob)
Rosie-died in 1987 at age 25. Car accident on New Year’s Day.

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The Story of Tita

In the year 1921, on the day of March 20th, in the
small village of Aitou, in the country of Lebanon, a baby
girl was born. She was beautiful and had hazel colored
eyes. Her name was Genevieve Alwan, and she would
grow up to become my mother. Her father’s name was
Sarkis Rizk Alwan and her mother’s name was Martha.
Genevieve was the youngest of six children. Antonius
was the oldest, and the middle children were Simon,
John, Najeebe, and Josephine. When Genevieve was
three years old, her father died. Martha gathered her-
self and her youngest children and moved in with her
son, Simon, and his family. Genevieve was raised with
Simon’s children, who were her nieces and nephews but
felt more like siblings, since they were all around the
same age.
Genevieve—my mom—was the greatest women I
have ever known. She told me stories about her child-
hood in Lebanon. The village of Aitou was her home and
a wonderful place to grow up. There were olive trees,
and every fruit tree that you could imagine. There was
beauty everywhere she went. Genevieve was a very
happy child.
Genevieve attended school, and she spoke both
Arabic and French. Her handwriting was Arabic and she
read Arabic. She was very close to her family and also
had a devotion to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and to Jesus’s
father, God.
A sort of tomboy, she told me the story about her
beautiful long strawberry blonde hair, which her mother

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The Story of Tita

just loved. But Genevieve hated it because it got in
her way when she climbed trees and played. One day
she had her brother, John, cut off her beautiful hair.
When her mother came home and witnessed what her
two children had done, she was furious and gave them
spankings that they didn’t soon forget. But by her own
choice, Genevieve, never, ever had long hair again.
At the age of 16, Genevieve was arranged to be mar-
ried to a Lebanese man who was living in Cincinnati,
Ohio: Clement Joseph. He was 11 years older than her
and came to Lebanon for the marriage. They were mar-
ried on December 25, 1937. They remained in Lebanon
for six months and then began their long journey to
America on a ship. Now, if you can, imagine just how
hard that was for Tita. She left her family and her beau-
tiful home in Lebanon. She had no knowledge of the
English language and couldn’t read, write, or speak
English. Can you imagine how you would feel to leave
everything you’ve ever known and go to a foreign land?
This was very hard for Tita.
She lived with her new husband, Clement (my
father, your Gidu), and his parents on the floor above
their business, a bar. Life with her in-laws was difficult.
However, she was never a person to complain. She had
the first three of her children in Cincinnati, Ohio: Fran,
Theresa, and me (Marie). I was the last of the three to be
born there. My oldest sister, Fran, or DeDe, is eight years
older than me. She has always been my protector and I
have always admired and looked up to her. We are the

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The Story of Tita

very best of friends. Four years after her birth, my sister

Theresa was born. She was very beautiful and always

cheerful. Another four years later, I was born.

When I was only a month old, my family moved to

Peoria, IL. It was November 1946 and we moved to the

house on Moss Avenue (the house that Terry and Loren

live in now). My father’s two brothers, Joe and Mike, and

their families, had already moved to Peoria and wanted

my mom and

dad to join them

there.

When I was

nine years old,

tragedy struck

our family. My

sister Theresa,

who was 12 at

the time, was

hit by a car and

died. It was

December 14th,

1955. She was

crossing the

street to return

to school after

lunch with her

friends. Just as

she was about

Theresa to step onto the

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The Story of Tita

curb, a car driven by a teenage boy struck and killed her.

The boy had bent down in the car to retrieve something

and wasn’t watching the road. Our father saw the whole

accident as he was driving home after dropping me off

at school. I learned about the accident from a classmate.

She said, “I’m sorry your sister died.” I didn’t know what

she was talking about. A few minutes later, my dad came

and took me home.

I remember very little

about Theresa except

that she was very pretty

with large brown eyes,

and always happy. Her

death was a hard time for

all of us. Tita suffered so

much through her grief,

but through it all, she was

very strong. She remained

present for all of us. She

prayed all of the time.

Tita was pregnant when

Theresa died. In keeping

with Lebanese grieving

customs, Tita wore only

black maternity clothes

from the moment of

Theresa’s death until

she gave birth in June to Tita’s Rosary
the baby girl she named and Prayerbook

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The Story of Tita

Theresa in honor of her child who was killed. From the
moment the baby was born, we called her Terry.
I have never met anyone as strong as your Tita. I
know Tita’s faith helped her through so much hardship
and sadness. She was the sweetest, most gentle woman
I have ever known. She was much like the saint she her-
self revered, Saint Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of
Families, Animals and Plants.
One of Tita’s favorite prayers was the “Peace Prayer
of St. Francis”:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring Your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.

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The Story of Tita

Over the years, Tita would face many tragedies
after losing Theresa. She would learn of the death of her
mother, who still lived in Lebanon. She would endure
the murder of her brother-in-law, Joe, my dad’s brother,
who was shot during a robbery of the tavern he co-
owned with my dad and their other brother, Mike, who
would later die from old age. Then in 1984, on May 1st,
she would grieve the death of her husband, my dad, who
died of lung cancer. She would grieve the deaths of her
nephew Simon and niece Denise (Rizk’s and Laurice’s
son and daughter to whom she was very close), who
both died of lung cancer in their 30’s. Once again, sad-
ness. Through it all, she prayed and had strength. She
loved her family more than anything.
She taught us to always love God, love each other and
respect everyone, even if they seemed different than
you. She would say, “If you look hard enough, you will
find good in everyone.” One day, when we were younger,
Dede and I decided to put her to the test. There was a
lady we knew who was arrogant and unpleasant. We
couldn’t see anything good about her. We said to our
mom, “Ok, what can you find good in her?” She thought
for a minute and said, “She has beautiful teeth.” Her
sense of humor was amazing. We never tried to trick
her again. We still laugh about that.
Tita taught us by her example. She always was help-
ing people, feeding them and doing anything she could.
She taught us to always be honest. Once when I was
five, we walked to the store (we didn’t have a car). I saw

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The Story of Tita

a pretty pink eraser that I wanted. I decided to take it.
When we got home, Tita saw it and asked where I got it.
I said from the store. Tita asked how I paid for it, and I
said I didn’t. She marched me back to the store and she
got the manager and said that I had something to tell
him. I was so ashamed. I handed him the eraser and
told him I was sorry. That has stayed with me all these
years. Some moms may have thought, it is just a 5-cent
eraser, but my mom taught me a lesson I will never for-
get. I felt bad because I had disappointed my mom.
We had many happy times growing up, simply be-
cause Mom kept things happy and fun. I remember one
Easter when I was about eight or nine, my mom made
me a white wool jacket and a pink wool pleated skirt.
We didn’t have money for clothes, other then what we
had to have. I loved this outfit so much. I was sad when
it no longer fit.
One time when I was about five, my mom was writing
a letter to her mother in Lebanon. Arabic writing looked
to me like little squiggly marks and dots. I would sit
there with my pen and paper doing what I thought was
writing to my own Tita in Lebanon. When I was done, I
would ask Mom what I wrote. She would read it like it
was real, always starting with Dear Tita. She would read
it like I had actually written a letter, and I felt so proud
writing to my Tita far away. Then my mom would add it
to her letter and mail it.
It was very hard on my mom that she couldn’t pick
up the phone and call her mom. She never ever got to go

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The Story of Tita

back to Lebanon to see her mom. Her major tragedy was
losing Theresa, but learning the death of her mother
was very hard on her. That is why I made up my mind
that someday I would go to Lebanon for her.

Lebanon

My greatest gift, other than my husband and kids,
is the trip to Lebanon that I took with Diana, Greg and
Raynah. Since my mom never got to go back to her
homeland, I had always wanted to see where she grew
up. That dream became real in the summer of 2010. It
was everything and more of what I expected. A dream
come true. It made me so very happy. When I got off the
plane in Beirut, I looked around, and began to cry. I was
home. It felt unreal to see every person looking just like
we did, all in one place.
From the airport, it was a long ride to Aitou. It was
night and very scary not knowing where we were or
where we were heading. The convent, Mar Semaan,
where we were to stay, seemed so far away. When we
got there, we had to go down steep stone steps, and it
was so dark. At that moment, I was just a little worried.
Were we safe? Did I make a mistake? All sort of things
were going through my head. We found our rooms and
went to bed.
The next morning, tour guides George and Violette
came to get us to show us around. The minute I saw
Aitou in the morning light, I had no more doubts that we
made the right decision. We saw beautiful places and

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The Story of Tita

met amazing people. Jean (pronounced “John”) and An-
toinette Hitti also drove us to see the beautiful Lebanese
sights.
It was amazing meeting our family in Lebanon. We
were invited to eat with relatives on the Unes side and
on the Alwan side of the family. We met Fouad Younes
and his entire family, who are cousins of Dave’s. On my
mother’s side of the family, we met Nayef and Claudette
Alwan, and Raymond and Suzanne Alwan, and their
families, all in Aitou, and Tony Alwan and his daughter
Reina, in Beirut. We all stay in touch, thanks to Face-
book. I love having them in my life.
Of all the places and people we met, the best part of
my trip came when we saw the church Tita was mar-
ried in and the house she was raised in. I ate an apricot
from the tree growing right there at Tita’s house. Di-
ana brought home the seed from the apricot I ate. She
planted the seed in a pot. When it grew into a tree, we
planted it together into the ground at Mandala Gardens,
Diana’s and Greg’s and Raynah’s home. There now
grows a beautiful apricot tree. Diana also brought an
apricot-colored rose from Tita’s house and pressed it
into my Bible.
I will never forget this trip and the blessings I feel for
having been able to see my beautiful Lebanon. I hope
someday we can go back with the whole family. Another
dream I have.

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The Story of Tita

Tita’s
Childhood

Home

Tita’s
Apricot

Tree

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The Story of Tita

St. Sarkis
and

Bakhos
Church,
where
Tita wed

Mar
Semaan,

Aitou.

The
convent
where we
stayed.

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The Story of Tita

Marie, Raynah, and Diana outside the convent

The view from the convent: The Valley of Saints.

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The Story of Tita

Greg, Marie, Diana, and Raynah at a wedding in Lebanon

Look closely
at the photo
to see Marie
holding the

rose she
later pressed
between the
pages of her
Bible, and the
apricot she
ate from Tita’s
tree, the seed
from which
grew into the
apricot tree at
Diana’s home.

June 2010. Marie and Diana
at Tita’s house in Lebanon.

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The Story of Tita

Marie, Raynah, and Diana planting the apricot tree from
the seed of the apricot from Tita’s tree in Lebanon.

July 2017. The rose from Tita’s home now
The apricot tree today pressed in Marie’s bible.

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The Story of Tita

Back to family history, I got away from myself. On
June 13, 1957, my sister, Terry was born. Eleven months
later, on May 20, 1958, Tom was born. Mark was born
two years later on June 26, 1959, and Rosie two years
after that, on September 6, 1961. It was a happy time.
I loved having my baby sisters and brothers. As you all
know, I have loved kids my whole life. Terry was like my
own baby. If Tom or Mark would tease her, I would get
mad at them.
Then I got my first car, or more like a boat, it was so
big. I could hardly see over the steering wheel. I really
loved taking the four little guys places. We would go to
Kartsville, movies, school functions and whatever we
wanted. My mom, Tita, never learned how to drive.
I enjoyed all the fun with the kids. I did get mad
occasionally but we enjoyed our times together. I hardly
ever got mad at Terry, although I had a baby chick that I
loved. It followed me all over the house. One day Terry
decided the chick was thirsty and gave it a drink by
pouring a glass of water over it. Well, no more chick.
I remember when Mark was just a little guy and he
thought Dede was his cousin because she was married
and out on her own. He was mad at me one day and
said he wished Dede was his sister instead of me. It was
really cute. I asked him who he thought she was, and he
exclaimed, “MY COUSIN!”
Although we all were far apart in age, we were very
close. To this day as adult siblings, we remain very
close.

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The Story of Tita

Family
Photo 1969.

Marie’s
wedding day
Zigzag from

left: Terry,
Genevieve,
Tom, Clem,
Marie, Mark,
Fran, and

Rosie

Family Photo circa 1980s: Clockwise from top left: Tom,
Mark, Fran, Terry, Marie, Rosie, Genevieve, and Clement

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The Story of Tita

Tom and I liked to get into water fights in fun. One
time, when pregnant with Diana, I was doing dishes at
Mom’s when Tom happened by the sink. Well, you know
what happened next. I splashed him with water. He
then got a glass of water and chased me through the
house. Mom kept yelling for Tom to stop chasing me and
all we could do was laugh. He even chased me up the
stairs. My poor mom was so worried I would fall on the
slippery floor. But we were having so much fun and to
this day, the water game is alive and well.
Mom was my hero and very best friend. Although
there was sadness, disappointment and some an-
ger growing up, my mom made my life happy. I never
wanted to disappoint, hurt or worry her. When I was
in beauty school, some of us would take the afternoons
off and skip school. I would always call my mom to let
her know. My friends thought this was dumb to call my
mom. I explained that she wouldn’t mind if I skipped
school, but that if she would call and I wasn’t there, she
would worry. Why put her through that?
Tita suffered many health problems: diabetes, heart
disease, high blood pressure. She had major heart sur-
geries. Tita could have died many times through all of
her surgeries and health problems. God chose January
1, 1987 to remove her from all of her pain.
On January 1,1987, my sweet mom, my sister Rosie,
and my niece Angie were coming home from Blooming-
ton. They had gone to a New Year’s Eve party at Tom
and Marci’s the night before. Mom and Rosie were Eu-

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The Story of Tita

New Year’s Eve 1986. Tita pictured with Julie’s sons, from left:
Mark, Mitch, and Mike. This picture was taken at Tita’s
house the day before she died.

charistic Ministers. They were on their way home from
Tom’s the next morning to serve communion at Mass.
There was a terrible car crash. Mom and Rosie died, and
Angie was in a coma. That was the worst day of my en-
tire life.
On that morning that they were to come home, be-
fore they had left, Tita had told Tom that she had no
pain. This was really something, because Mom had pain
every day. God took away her pain and was waiting for
her. This gave me some peace to know her pain was
finally gone.
Angie is our miracle. Although doctors wouldn’t give
us hope, we all prayed. Angie, thank God, was given

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The Story of Tita

back to us. We were all so happy. I believe that in all
bad, there is good that comes from it.
Here is the good that has happened to me since
mom died: One morning not long after mom died, I was
very sad and I was on my way to work and I was cry-
ing very hard. I could hardly see through my tears. All
of a sudden three doves were in front of my car. They
wouldn’t move. There was no other traffic. Just me
and the doves. I kept trying to inch closer, but they just
wouldn’t move. Finally, as if the Holy Spirit whispered
in my ear, “Your mom is happy.” This is why I have such
a love for doves. I feel my mom’s presence each time I
see one.

Doves

I would like to give you more of a background on my
dove story. Years ago, when Mom and Rosie were still
alive, and when Mike was about nine, Mike loved doing
voices of people we knew and was quite good at it. He
could even fool people on the phone, acting as someone
else. One day, we were all in the back yard and a mourn-
ing dove started her cooing. Mike immediately cooed
back. This went on for awhile, with both cooing. We
laughed so hard. It was as though they were having an
actual conversation. For some reason, I became very in-
terested in this bird, and I actually looked it up and read
all about it. A few weeks later, we found a dove nest in
the back yard in our blue spruce. We were very excited
to think we would soon have baby doves. There were

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The Story of Tita

three eggs. We would watch every day for our baby
doves. Somehow the nest fell to the ground and all the
doves died. I haven’t thought of that story for years. I
feel as if God was preparing me for the tragedy of losing
mom, Rosie, and almost losing Angie.
Another thing that I think about is how I got a job six
months before the accident. I was not looking for a job,
especially not in an office. I was doing hair at Cedars of
Lebanon, and I decided to check at South Side Manor to
see if they needed a hairdresser. They informed me they
had one on staff, but that they were looking for an as-
sistant manager, and I should go to Robert Cottingham’s
office to apply. I said thank you and left. I laughed all
the way home. THAT was not my cup of tea. When I told
Dave, he said go for it. He has always encouraged me.
At first, I wasn’t going to, but I thought, all they could do
was say no. I really think I wanted them to say no, be-
cause I was afraid to get out of my comfort zone. I filled
out an application, and Bob Cottingham interviewed me.
He called the very next day, and I was hired. The reason
I am telling you this is the fact that this was all in God’s
plan. It forced me to get out of bed everyday and go to
work. I was surrounded by my senior citizens, my sweet
tenants. Believe me when I say they helped me.
There have been many dove stories over the years,
but my favorite one is the time Fran and I drove to St.
Louis with Tina. She was going for a job. After leaving
her at her apartment, we were walking to the car and
Fran was having a hard time. She was very worried. As

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The Story of Tita

I was trying to reassure her that Tina would be fine,
we approached her car, and there on the roof of her car
were two doves.
Over the years, my friends and family have come
to know how much doves mean to me. I have received
dove ornaments, ceramic doves, plaster doves, and even
a mosaic dove stepping stone that Raynah made for me.
Nathan is a very good artist and drew one free-hand for
me. Nicholas gave me a plastic Easter egg with a dove
on the front and when you opened it, his picture was in-
side. Meghan and Michelle have made cards with doves
on them. I have received many pictures that I treasure,
too. I just wanted you to understand my dove story and
why it is so important to me.

[ 21 ]

My son-in-law Greg sent me this photo of two doves he
saw outside his window and it made my day.

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The Story of Tita

Another good thing that happened is that the young
man that Rosie was going to marry, Dave, became a
priest, 10 years after the accident. We were privileged
to be at his Ordination. His sister gave birth to a little
baby girl that she named Rosemary, in honor of Rosie,
and Father Dave is her Godfather.

Above: Father Dave
with Terry, Loren,
Fran, Sam, Marci,
Tom, Linda, and Mark
at Anthony Mischler’s
wedding in 2016.

At right: Father
Terry holding
Meghan at her

baptism.

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The Story of Tita

As time passed, I still was very sad, and so I went
to talk to my favorite priest, Father Terry. He told me
I needed to get involved and to help people in need.
That was the beginning. I got very involved at church. I
became a Eucharistic Minister at church and also took
communion to the shut-ins. I was coming out of my
sadness by helping others. It helped me forget my own
pain. When I say good comes out of bad, I mean it. My
whole life I have gone to church. But once I became in-
volved, I became closer and closer to God.
Thanks to Mike, I became involved in WATCH. This
stands for We Are The Church. People give talks about
various things such as prayer. It is very inspirational. I
would never have believed I would go to something like
this, because it is out of my comfort zone. When Mike
first encouraged me to attend WATCH, my first instinct
was to say no. Mike really wanted me to attend, so I
finally said yes, reluctantly. What I didn’t know was that
Mike was on the WATCH Team and also gave the talk on
prayer. All the talks were amazing, but the talk Mike
gave touched everyone, especially me. Once I went, I
understood how WATCH could help me. Now after many
years, I have gone to several WATCH’s, and on occasion, I
am a team member and a speaker.
I belong to a group of friends that get together once
a week, and we pray the rosary. This started with two
of us as a way to pray for peace, and now has grown to
several friends. This is my favorite prayer of all. It tells
the story of Mary and Jesus. It is beautiful. I have also

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The Story of Tita

learned about how the Holy Spirit helps you in life, but
you must be open to listening. It is not in words. It is in
promptings. It was the Holy Spirit that sent the doves
to me. Until I understood, they didn’t move. I am still
getting closer to God.
Praying my rosary daily teaches me what Tita knew
all those years ago. God helped Tita through all of her
sadness and now God is helping me. Besides much
prayer, my healing has been having the love of Dave,
Diana and Greg, Mike and Natalie, and my beautiful
grandchildren, Raynah, Meghan, Nathan, Michelle, and
Nicholas. Of course, add to that list my sisters, brothers,
nieces and nephews, and my cousins Laurice Joseph and
Julie McDonald and their sister Gloria, who passed away.
Laurice Alwan has always been like a second mom to
me.1 Uncle Mike had a son George, who lived in Cincin-
nati. We were reacquainted with him later in life. We
enjoy going to Cincinnati and visiting his family and
having his family visit us. He also passed away.
There are also many, many more cousins in my life
that mean so much to me. We are a very blessed family.

1A very happy and miraculous story is of Rizk and Laurice’s
granddaughter Kristina. She is the youngest child of Bob and
Kathy (Alwan) Couri. Brian is their oldest. When Kathy and
Bob took baby Kristina home from the hospital, she became
feverish. They took her back to the hospital and she was di-
agnosed with spinal meningitis. The family prayed very hard
for baby Kristina and family. Rizk rubbed the oil of St. Sharbel
on Kristina’s forehead and placed a medal of St. Sharbel in
her crib. They prayed every day over her crib. She recovered
completely and is my beautiful cousin.

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The Story of Tita

We are so close. Tita is the reason. She loved family
more than anything. She taught us by example to love
each other always. She was always doing special things
for us.

Rizk and Laurice. Rizk was Tita’s nephew. Close in age,
Rizk and Tita were raised as siblings in the same home.

Laurice has always been like a second mom to me.

At Marie
and Dave’s
wedding.
From left:

Terry,
Clem, Kathy

Alwan,
Laurice
Alwan,
Genevieve,
Marie, Dave,
and Denise
Alwan

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The Story of Tita

Barb and George Joseph (in center), surrounded by
from left: Mark, Linda, Fran, Marie, Tom, and Marci

2016 Lunch Date. From left: Laurice Alwan, Marie,
Laurice Joseph, Fran, and Terry

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The Story of Tita

My mom worked very hard. She cooked, cleaned and
basically ran the house. I loved watching her cook. She
made everything taste delicious. I loved watching her
make Lebanese bread. She could toss the dough so well.
She would give me a dish towel to practice with. I could
not get the hang of it. But I tried my darnedest.
Remember when I said Tita couldn’t read or write
English when she came to the United States? Well,
many years later, she took an adult education class and
learned to read and write. We were all very proud of
her. An example of her writing is below. She sent a let-
ter and card to our cousin Julie, in Texas.

Tita’s first handwritten letter in English script,
circa late 1985 or early 1986. The Christmas Day

she refers to was Christmas 1985.

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The Story of Tita

My mom would often surprise us. There was the time
Tita was in a skit in St. Mark’s stunt show. She wouldn’t
tell us what her part was, and when her group came on
stage, we were looking for her, but not seeing her. Fi-
nally, after a minute we saw this lady with a long blonde
wig. You guessed it, there stood Tita. She had such a
great sense of humor. One time she was in Vegas with
Fran and me. We had gone downtown, and I was losing
and I was being a real grump. We stopped for ice cream
and she was determined to make me laugh. The wall-
paper had vegetables on them, and I know this won’t
sound funny, but she would somehow say ‘a vegetable’
in a way that we all laughed.
I remember when I was young I would spend a week
vacation with my cousin, Simon, at his house, and then
he would come stay a week at our house. We had so
much fun, because we were close in age and, at that
time, had no other cousins to play with. It was just the
two of us until it all changed when Tita’s five nieces
came to America: Ilda, Jeanette, Georgette, Ivette, and
Hulia. Their mom was Tita’s sister, my Aunt Najeebe.
Aunt Najeebe had lost her husband when her girls were
little. She raised them alone in Lebanon. As the girls
grew and were married, they one by one brought their
families to America and to Peoria. The first to come to
America was Ilda and Dumit Ghantous and their daugh-
ter Georgette. Georgette was just a little girl when they
came. Ilda then had Mary, Janu, and Abe. Cousins to play
with! Next came Jeanette and Farid Khattar. She was

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The Story of Tita

pregnant with Ray. After Ray, came Najeebe, named for
her grandmother; Ilda named for her aunt; Tony, and
then Laurie. More cousins! Then came Georgette, she
was the youngest sister and she was single and came for
college. She went to Bradley and met Jim Siedlecki. They
soon married and had Jim, Anna, Ivetta and Tim. Next to
come was Ivette and Yousef Alwan. They had three boys,
Sarkis, Bachos and Jamil. The last to come was Hulia.
She was here with her children, Layla, Kamel, Jamil,
Rose, Abe and Najeebe. Hulia looked just like Mom. I
loved seeing that sweet face. She was the first of the five
sisters to pass away; just recently, Ivette, followed her to
heaven.

Najeebe’s daughters. Pictured from left: Ivette, Hulia,
Ilda, Jeanette, and Georgette

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The Story of Tita

Tita (left), reunited with her sister Najeebe.
They are sitting in Tita’s living room.

We cousins were always together. Mom loved parties
and dancing. All of our family would come to mom’s
and have so much fun. Having so many new cousins
was wonderful. What was missing was their mother,
Najeebe. Finally, Najeebe came to Peoria and now the
family was complete.
Tita loved a reason to have a party. We celebrated
everything. Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations
and graduations, and of course, all of our beautiful wed-
dings and receptions. Tita even threw a second wed-
ding reception at her home when Grandpa and me came
home from our honeymoon. Tita just decided we should

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The Story of Tita

celebrate again. Fran, me, and Terry all have beautiful
wedding photos of ourselves as brides with Mom in our
home on Moss Avenue.

Genevieve with
daughter Fran on
her wedding day

Genevieve with
daughter Marie on

her wedding day

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The Story of Tita

Genevieve with
daughter Terry on
her wedding day

I continued Tita’s mirror tradition with my own daugh-
ter, Diana, on her wedding day.

Marie with
daughter Diana on
her wedding day.

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The Story of Tita

Christmas was a very special holiday. We would go
to midnight Mass, and the next day would be filled with
Tita’s delicious food and lots of singing. We would have
fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, grape leaves
or cabbage rolls, chicken and rice, and a big Lebanese
salad. What a feast!! Then my dad, your Gidu, would get
out the wire recorder—we didn’t have tape machines
back then. He was always the Master of Ceremony. He
would introduce us and ask our names and how old we
were and what song we wanted to sing. After all of us
kids performed, he and Mom would sing Lebanese songs
to us. It was amazing to hear their beautiful voices in
perfect harmony. My dad would also play the piano. He
never had a lesson, but sing a song, and he could play it.
I remember one Christmas, Tita made all of us our very

own red
stockings
and inside
was our gift
from her
and Gidu,
silver coins.

Rosie,
Tom,
Mark,
Gidu, and
Tita at
Christmas

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The Story of Tita

We have our Christmas tradition in my home now.
Diana, Greg and Raynah come up from Marion, IL, and
Mike, Natalie and family all come over from East Peoria,
and we create a feast of grape leaves, spinach and meat
pies, kibba, salad, baklawa, and last year, we added shish
barak. It is so much fun watching everyone around the
table creating this perfect meal together. After 4:30
Mass on Christmas Eve, we enjoy our perfect family
meal.

Our family
around the

table
making
spinach and
meat pies on
Christmas
Eve 2013
and 2017.

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The Story of Tita

Christmas Eve 2007. Spiraling clockwise from bottom left:
Marie admiring her family, Dave, Greg, Nathan, Mike, Natalie,

Michelle, Raynah, Meghan, Nicholas, and Diana

Christmas
Eve 2013

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The Story of Tita

My siblings and I continue our mom’s tradition and
love for throwing parties. Dede and Sam have everyone
for Thanksgiving. Tom and Marci have everyone for Eas-
ter. Mark and Linda have the entire family for Christmas
at their house.2 Since Dave and I have a pool, we have a
cookout and pool party for my siblings in the summer.
Mom always wanted us to stay close and I think we are
even closer now.

Christmas 2007 on Moss Avenue. From top left: Dave,
Marie, Terry, Fran, Sam, Mark, Linda, Loren, Tom, Marci.
They are holding in their laps the hand-sketched portrait

of Tita by Mari Khoury Briggs that Marie gave to her
siblings for Christmas.

2 For years, Terry and Loren hosted Christmas in their home
on Moss Avenue, the same home that was my childhood
home, to continue tradition and memories in the house. Even
though much of the décor of the house has changed, when I
go there, I can still feel Tita’s and Gidu’s presence.

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The Story of Tita

Tita saw the good in everyone. Tita taught me many
things, among those:

• Always be true to yourself, remember who you
are and be proud.

• Love and family are the most important things
we have.

• Accept everyone for who they are and not how
they look.

• Embrace all people and their diversity.
• Always be modest, and always be humble.
I remember a long time ago when Diana was in grade
school, she had a pen pal from Utah. The correspon-
dence started as a school assignment, but they kept in
touch for many years. One Christmas her pen pal sent
her a card she had made for Diana. It was the word
JOY: Jesus, Others, Yourself. I always remember that.
God helped Tita through her sadness, and now He is
helping me. Besides much prayer, my healing has been
having the love of my sisters, brothers, nieces, neph-
ews and cousins!! The most important people are Dave,
and Diana and Greg, Mike and Natalie, Raynah, Meghan,
Nathan, Michelle, and Nicholas. You make my life very
HAPPY AND FULL. I love everyone with my whole heart
and soul. I am passing all of this on to you:
• Remain close to family and friends.
• Always stay true to who you are.
• Always be yourself.
• Love yourself first so you can love others.

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The Story of Tita

Tita, hosting a party at her house. Pictured with Mark,
Diana, and baby Joe, circa 1984/85.
Our Growing Family

Since Tita’s death, there have been six more grandchil-
dren, 40 more great grandchildren, and numerous
weddings with four more to come soon.
Our miracle, Angie, with her husband Rick recently
celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss with family and
friends. It was a party Tita would have loved.
This is my family: My sister Fran, her husband Sam,
and their children, Angie, Chris, Danny, Monica, Keith,
Tina, and Katie. My husband Dave and me, and our
children, Diana and Mike. My sister Terry, her husband
Loren, and their children, Matt, Molly, Jenny, Anthony,
and Nicole. My brother Tom, his wife Marci, and their

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The Story of Tita

children Rachel, Louie, and Mary. My brother Mark,
his wife Linda, and their children, Katherine, Tom, and
Kristina. Plus, my five grandchildren and all of the many
great-nieces and great-nephews. It is a very special
family that grows each and every year with more people
and many, many blessings.
If Tita were here today, she would want me to share
this poem with you. Since we are both “Tita,” I will share
it with you on her behalf:

Grandma’s Pearls of Wisdom3
I’ve traveled paths you’ve yet to walk

Learned lessons old and new
And now this wisdom of my life

I’m blessed to share with you
Let kindness spread like sunshine

Embrace those who are sad
Respect their dignity, give them joy

And leave them feeling glad
Forgive those who might hurt you
And though you have your pride
Listen closely to their viewpoint

Try to see the other side

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The Story of Tita

Walk softly when you’re angry
Try not to take offense

Invoke your sense of humor
Laughter’s power is immense!

Express what you are feeling
Your beliefs you should uphold
Don’t shy away from what is right

Be courageous and be bold

Keep hope right in your pocket
It will guide you day by day
Take it out when it is needed

When it’s near, you’ll find a way

Remember friends and family
Of which you are a precious part

Love deeply and love truly
Give freely from your heart

The world is far from perfect
There’s conflict and there’s strife
But you still can make a difference

By how you live your life

And so I’m very blessed to know
The wonders you will do
Because you are my family 4
And I believe in you

3 “Grandma’s Pearls of Wisdom” ©2008 Becky Netherland for
The Bradford Group
4 In the original poem, the word “family” reads “granddaugh-
ter” but I changed it here to include my entire family.

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