Romantic Tuesdays

Tuesday's posts are supposed to be about romance, although I must admit I am not always consistent. :) I love Omar's quote at the end of this article.


Iraq-born Omar Fekeiki, who endangered his life by working as a correspondent for the Washington Post in Baghdad (and was profiled in The Chronicle in October), was one of two student graduation speakers chosen by fellow students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Fekeiki, 29, described how his fellow classmates had become his family.
And then, from the podium, he called up the person closest to him right now, 30-year-old Ban Hameed, whom he'd met eight years ago when they were both college students in Baghdad. She made her way to the platform, looking embarrassed. "I was afraid she would pass out," said Fekeiki on Monday.
In the past year, what had been a close friendship had turned into a close romance. Fekeiki told the audience he had one more thing to say, and then told her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. They embraced, she sobbed and he gave her a ring. Although this came as a surprise to her, he had been reasonably sure she'd say yes. "I'm a good reporter," he said Monday. "I did research before I did it."
They plan to marry in April.

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by Leah Garchik of the San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday, May 20, 2008