Coming of Age

Sarah Kittle

The Chaldean News is celebrating its 19th year of publication! Normally, the February issue is our “wedding” issue, since everyone plans summer and fall weddings early in the year; however, this year we have something special for our readers. Wilson Sarkis, photographer extraordinaire, the most popular wedding photographer in the area, went to Iraq and took pictures.

These photos evoke so many feelings, even in me, a non-Chaldean. I can only imagine how someone who grew up in this beautiful and desolate country would feel viewing these pictures. Some of them made me smile, but far too many made me cry. This is what fuels Wilson and others like him to reach out to those still living in Iraq, either by choice or by circumstance, and tell their story to the rest of the world. We at The Chaldean News are honored to feature his photos in this issue and in each issue for the rest of the year. Wilson will return to Iraq in the Spring and continue his project, which will ultimately become a documentary. We will cover it all.

As a nod to our wedding issue, we feature some beautiful wedding photos (courtesy of Wilson Sarkis) and stories about love. Real life love stories, such as the story of Ron and Vicki and Ron and Vicki, two couples with the same names that share very similar circumstances and end up as best friends. We cover the materials taught in marriage classes offered by the Church to set the engaged on a course for marital success. We also bring you an article on MATCHaldean, a dating service for the Chaldean community.

For your reading pleasure, we bring you a profile of Majd Zuma, a community member who was born in Iraq, grew up in Michigan, and now lives in California working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. His journey is unique, but it is similar to many Iraq immigrants who came to the U.S. and made a name for themselves. We will continue to celebrate them.

Guest columnist Jacqueline Raxter, a mental health expert who works for the Chaldean Community Foundation, shares tips on talking with your teenager about their mental health. As the mother of four boys, I read once that one of the best places to have a conversation with your children is in the car. Something about not looking directly at each other while speaking makes it easier to open up. I tried this and it worked! Hopefully, this article will help you communicate with your kids, too. Mental health is such a complicated and important area to cover.

We also cover the tradition of Ba’utha, overcoming cultural concerns when seeing the doctor, Joey George and his play for Michigan football, and Brian Patto’s short film, Grace, along with regular features such as the CCF update, Chaldean Digest, and Iraq Today.

You may have noticed a different look to our magazine and our social media accounts. We are working on revamping the website as well and adding new features. We are looking for input from our readers and welcome any and all suggestions, comments, or insight. We are here for you, after all.

Looking forward to 2022 and beyond,

Sarah Kittle
Managing Editor