Hundreds gathered around the ever-expanding Awaida altar Thursday night at Los Cerritos Park to remember the family killed by a suspected drunk driver on Oct. 31.
As a trio of musicians played somber songs of remembrance, community members continued to walk up to the altar, leaving flowers and momentos in honor of Joseph Awaida, 30, Raihan Dakhil, 32, and their son Omar Awaida, 3.
The Awaida-Dakhil families are seen holding each other for support. Some shed silent tears as they held candles for the family.
The faces in the crowd seemed to express emotions of sadness and rage, and in the multitude of people, different races and age groups came together in a show of unity for the family.
A prayer was led in both Arabic and English by Tarek Mohamed, Chairman of the Long Beach Islamic Center.
Vera Awaida, mother of Joseph Awaida thanked the community for their support. Other Awaida-Dakhil family members described the story of how Joseph and Raihan met before marrying and moving to Long Beach. Joseph and Raihan had named their son after Joseph’s younger brother Omar who was 13-years old at the time when he died after sustaining head trauma in a fall at Sequoia National Park in 2014.
1 comment
Comments are closed.