Tribute to my Grandfather and Father - Haseeb and Geoffrey Mahfood

Haseeb:

     I have been blessed to be the daughter of my precious father, Geoffrey, who was the son of Haseeb Mahfood. Our lives took place in the beautiful island of Jamaica where Haseeb arrived from Jdeidet Marjeyoun, Lebanon.  There are many legends of Jidoo's travel from Marjeyoun to Jamaica.  Did he plan to go to the United States? Or as legend has it, did he get off the banana boat by mistake in Jamaica? No matter how you look at it, the truth was thatJidoo did the right thing coming to Jamaica. I believe his brother had come there before him, and they set up in successful business together. Jidoo made a wonderfully comfortable life for himself and his family: wife, Adora, sons Adeeb, Geoffrey, Richard and daughter Bianca. 

     Jidoo passed away when I was about 8 years old, so I had a chance to get to know him.  He and my grandmother lived in a most beautiful mansion  on Seaview Drive on the way to the beach. I loved that house because there were two staircases. My cousin, Marlene, and I would run and hide on the back secret staircase and hide in all manner of places in that home. The bedrooms had balconies and stands with wash basins in the style of the old days. There was a lovely porte cochere to drive up to the home and lots of garden to run and play. Later when Jidoo could no longer manage the stairs they moved to another lovely, smaller home in Jacks Hill where Marlene and I would drive Jidoo crazy.  We were kind of loud and rambunctious and he was always telling us to quiet down and behave. Sitty, our grandmother, would buy us chocolates and paper dolls to keep us occupied. The whole family went every weekend for either lunch or high tea to Sitty and Jidoo where we would have meshe, lubeh, lahaishweh and tabouleh. Jidoo spoke much Arabic and played cards with us. Whereas Jidoo was firm, and stern, Sitty was a piece of butter, and we loved them dearly both.

   In essence, my grandparents were a very large part of my earlier life, they showed us the traditional Lebanese culture which shaped us forever, and joined us to our extended family.

Geoffrey:

   My father, Geoffrey, was a most kind and wonderful man.  He had a shy smile, was a great listener, had the patience of a saint and loved his family to the moon and back. My father always brought me home something from the family dry goods store, H. Mahfood and Sons.  Perhaps some material to sew a doll's dress, colored paper, notebooks or pens. Daddy could often be found engrossed in his book late at night in the den, something which intrigued me greatly.  When I was only about 10, I started picking books out of his bookshelf to read and often climbed a tree to read each one. Daddy had a gentle smile for everyone, taught my brothers how to drive go-carts, carried us all to the beach on Sundays and initially taught us how to swim (we were practically born in the ocean!) Heaven knows he had his shoulders climbed a hundred times for jump offs.  He was there for us late at night when we weren't well. He would come straight to our room to see what was wrong as we buzzed his intercom in the wee hours, through nightmares and sickness.  He was the loving, sturdy rock for my sister, Dianne, who suffered from polio.

   Daddy and I had breakfast in the mornings often from where I learned the somewhat strange taste of sardines on labneh combined with poached eggs. He drove me to school in the mornings. As a teenager, the one thing I feared most was Daddy's eyebrows being raised as only he could do and the way he would utter the word, "Vickiii!" if I had done something good Lebanese girls shouldn't do. He was always sitting in the den with his book or fast asleep when I came home late weekend nights. Yet he never showed irritation, and would only look at me from head to toe to be sure I was ok. The night I came home throwing up, he felt the fever, knew something was wrong, and sure enough he called it...chickenpox! He was slow to anger, and hated arguments or upset. I am like him in so many ways, but I will never reach his level of goodness. However, one way in which I have attained his level, is his great love of dessert whether it be baklawa, marmoul, gribbeh, namoureh, which we both overdid to my mother's dismay!

   Thank you Jidoo and Daddy for instilling in me all the lovely culture, values and graciousness that make me always remember you with nothing but the deepest love, respect and adoration.

Your loving grand-daughter and daughter, Vicki Mahfood

Jidoo Haseeb is survived by Son, Richard and daughter, Bianca, along with many grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren.

Father Geoffrey is survived by Wife, Jean, children Robert, Michael, Vicki and Natalie, as well as 5 Grandchildren and  3 Great-Grandchildren.