In remembrance of my Khallo Adel

Khallo Adel in Kuwait in 1980 or 1981 (screenshoted from one of his many family videos).

August 2nd marked the 30th anniversary of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. The invasion uprooted my family’s life and changed the trajectory of my future. Like the nearly 400,000 Palestinians who lived in Kuwait at the time, we had a really good life in Kuwait. It was a life that was built around a large community of friends and family.

And the foundation of that community was my uncle Adel Samara. Khallo Adel passed away yesterday and with him a big part of that life left the world.

Khallo was an extraordinary man. He was so much more than an uncle to me — he was like a second father. The distance of diaspora meant that I didn’t have an adult relationship with him but so much of my childhood included spending time with him and his family.

When I think back of my memories of my uncle, I see him smiling and laughing. He had an incredible wit and sense of humor. He was the sort of guy who didn’t take himself too seriously and I don’t think he thought you should take yourself too seriously, either. He’d crack a joke at your expense but you’d laugh right along with him because you knew it was coming from a good place (and that he probably had a point).

What made Khallo so extraordinary was his life story. My grandfather passed away when Khallo was still in college. Not only did he manage to complete his degree in…