No happy anniversary for bride caught up in Beirut explosion

Israa Seblani. (Supplied)

• Israa Seblani still doesn’t have a photo of her wedding day at home

BEIRUT: It should have been the happiest of times, but Lebanese doctor Israa Seblani does not even have a photograph of her wedding on display as the memories are so painful.
She was standing radiant in a white gown and headdress in a square in Beirut last Aug. 4, the day she married businessman Ahmad Subeih, when the scene was shattered by a deafening roar as a powerful shockwave nearly blew her off her feet.
“I still don’t have a photo of my wedding day at home,” Seblani, 30, said, back in the same square as other couples celebrated their nuptials, just like they did.
“It was a disaster for the Lebanese people. I can’t see parents who lost their children, children who lost their parents, or the destruction that happened, and be happy. I won’t lie to myself.”
They plan to be at work on their first anniversary to keep themselves busy: She at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, he at his clothing business.
“This is a day during which we can’t have any plans,” said Subeih, 34, “This is a day of sadness and sorrow, it’s a black day, a day of mourning for all Lebanon.”
Seblani returned to the US, where she had been working, in September, but coronavirus restrictions prevented Subeih from joining her. She went back to Lebanon so they could be together until they find a new base away from the economic crisis of their homeland. “We are looking for security, we don’t want money, we are not looking for a fancy life, we just want security,” Seblani said.