Reunion 50 years later
Father Sabena was the head of the Catholic orphanage that dad grew up in, and became his surrogate father figure. In 2000, we travelled back to the middle east with dad to revisit his history. Amazingly, Father Sabena was still alive (in his late 80's). We knocked on the seminary door and asked about him, they called him down from his room, and the minute he saw dad, he recognized him. The two held each other by both hands, looked into each other's eyes with tears. A few minutes later, Father Sabena went to his room, and came back with photos, postcards and letters that dad had sent him after moving to Canada.
Boys Choir
While growing up in a Catholic orphanage in Jerusalem and Emmaus, and prior to hitting puberty, Gabe sang soprano in the boys' choir. In this photo, taken from a photo in a yearbook in 2000 that we saw at the orphanage while visiting, Dad is shown in the front middle row with the white shirt and bowtie.
Three Generations of Mallouks
One of my favorite photos ever taken with my dad - we called it "Three Generations of Mallouks", and it was taken on a roadtrip down the coast of California with my daughter Naomi, him and I. I think this was around spring of 2003, taken south of Monterey CA along Highway 1, and taken by my wife Chris.
Jailbreak Burgers
A memory I will always cherish. In May 2014, dad's dementia had begun and he had broken his shoulder. He was stuck in a hospital with bad food, and was grumpy as hell. We broke him out of the hospital, drove him to a burger joint, and ate the juiciest, greasiest, most delicious burgers either of us had ever eaten. The grease dripped down his arms and all over his pants - but we didn't care. It was the two of us thoroughly enjoying a good meal together (with my wife and kids there to share the experince).