Monday, like the rest of America, I listened on the radio and read on the internet in shock and disbelief at reports and images of the shootings at Virginia Tech.  But when I arrived home and was confronted by the information that someone I knew was among the missing, the evening took on a truly surreal quality.  For me, it was, as they say, like déjà vu all over again.

I had had the same experience several years ago on 9/11.  Then, I sat with students and colleagues during the day and watched with horror at the events that were unfolding.  But when I arrived home, I learned that a family member had been in the World Trade Center that fateful morning and was still missing.  For days we held out hope as a few fortunate survivors were pulled from the rubble.  But as days and then weeks passed, we came to accept that the unthinkable had indeed occurred. 

Having experienced it twice now, I can attest that when the 24-hour news blitz has immediate and personal meaning, the experience is unnerving.  When a loved one is among 2,792 victims or “the 33 confirmed dead”, the evening news is no longer just the evening news.

I wish I could say that this time around, we received better news, but by the end of the night, our worst fears were realized.  Reema was dead.

Reema

Reema Samaha was a best friend of my oldest niece and nephews.  The Samahas (Reema and her older sister Rhonda and sometimes their older brother Omar) and the McNabbs (my sister-in-law’s three kids) were inseparable.  It is difficult for me even to fathom that Reema was in college.  I had seen her less frequently in recent years – teenagers do not tend to hang around in the house the way elementary and middle schoolers do – so I mostly remember her as a little kid.

But what I do remember was a joyful, funny, and smart girl.  She was also charming and warm, gentle and kind, genuine and good.

My fondest memories encompass her starring roles in “SamNab Productions” – their movie-making venture which consisted mainly of a camcorder, a trunk of old dress-up clothes, and lots of ad-libbing.  One particular favorite was a movie they made as a gift for Caitlin, my oldest niece, to celebrate her birthday.  It reenacted her birth!  Reema was utterly hilarious as my sister-in-law, Luann.  Reema had a genuine gift for comedic acting, reminiscent of the best work of Lucille Ball or Gilda Radner.  In fact, the other night, after Caitlin returned home to be with her family in their time of distress, the first thing she asked my sister-in-law was whether they might dig up the old home movies.

Reema was genuinely funny, and she understood that, through her humor, she brought joy to people, so the antics were never in short supply.  She later went on to win a Cappie – presented by the Kennedy Center, the Cappies are the DC equivalent of the Tony awards, or the junior Tony awards perhaps.

A week or so ago, when my wife and I were visiting the McNabbs, Rhonda stopped by to see our own kids.  Afterwards, we sat and watched my nephew’s recent award-winning mock-umentary – he was always the director and cameraman of “SamNab Productions”.  Reema was unable to star in it as she was already studying down in Blacksburg.  My wife remarked, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if someday Chris were an Oscar-winning director and Reema were an Oscar-winning actress?  We could say, ‘We knew them when.’”  This week Reema got her proverbial fifteen minutes – for the wrongest of reasons.

Reema had grown into a beautiful, vibrant, accomplished young woman.  On the news the last night, Rhonda stated that she and Omar were not crying because that is not what Reema would have wanted.  That I know is true.  But I also know that, despite the fact that she loved to be the star, Reema was also quite humble – I think she would blush and be a little embarrassed by the celebration of her life.  And I also know if she had survived, Reema would have felt compassion and forgiveness for the troubled young man who shot her.

The events of Monday morning were a tragedy.  But believe me when I say that they were all the more tragic for our having lost Reema Samaha.  A bright light truly has gone out of this world.

To learn more about Reema, click the links below:

Posted by Pat Admin at April 18, 2007 1:01 PM

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