Our Dog Sam

Sam was fourteen when he left us,

 Rheumaticky and going blind.

Two winters before, with pneumonia,                                                                                            He‘d lain shiv‘ring in blankets by the fire,                                                                                      Two hot water bottles, capsule three hourly.                                                                                     I think he'd quite enjoyed the fuss.

Yet would we have nursed him so carefully                                                                                       If we‘d known the future? If we‘d seen how                                                                                 (Ears twitching though eyes vainly seeking us)                                                                          Illness took his zest and turned him old.       

He no longer rushed to sniff each caller;                                                                                                Left such duties to Ivan and Ginger;                                                                                              Only, with his aides, inspected the garden                                                                                 Thrice daily, like an old general.

Mostly Sam was content to sit and dream                                                                                        Of the days of his prime when, his ears pricked,                                                                                Sharp nose quiv'ring, brown fur thick and shining,                                                                        Tail upstanding like a flag, he ran free.

He wooed every entrancing bitch in town,                                                                              Battling bravely his larger, fiercer rivals,                                                                                          Yet was gentle with puppies and kittens,                                                                                    Loved by the children he guarded.

To our shame we had thought him a mongrel,                                                                            Until a Dutch friend said "He's a Kaashund.                                                                                 Dogs like him guard barges on Dutch Canals." 

Then proud we were, though proud before, of Sam.                                                               Maybe one day we‘ll go to find                                                                                                     Again in Holland our pal Sam.

Family History of Salim Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rubaie

 

Family History of Salim Sheikh Ahmed Al-Rubaie

Salim Sheikh Ahmed, was born Ali Ahmed, the son of Sheikh Ahmed Al Rubaie in 1898 in Baghdad, Iraq.

His name was changed to Salim which means safe or peace after surviving a disease which nearly cost him his life. Another account is that he survived from being drowned in the river Tigris, which left him nearly deaf. People came to congratulate his father saying that he is Salim (safe).

His occupation was that of a shop keeper. He died in 1982 at the age of 84.

Fatima Haji Hassan was born in 1904 in Baghdad, Iraq, the daughter of Khadeeja and Haji Hassan. She died in 1976 at the age of 72.

They were married in 1918 and had 6 sons and 9 daughters between 1920 and 1944 with twelve reaching adulthood.

At the last count there are 70 grandchildren, 175 great grandchildren, 117 great-great grandchildren grandchildren and 2 great-great-great grandchildren for a grand total of 379 descendants (6 generations).

They were affectionately known as Bibi and Jiddu.