Samir, the below was mostly written by Mais to start you off.  It is now up to you to embellish it in your own words.  Over to you…

Born in Nablus, Palestine as the fourth child, on fifth of September as one of six children of the Sukkars who hail from Turmus Ayya on my father’s side and Jerusalem on my mother’s. At that time, my father’s sister ‘Auntie Safa’ lived with us and she took a shine to me and pretty much looked after me 24/7. I was without a shadow of a doubt, her favourite child, and what a good taste and great judgment she had!

Having a fun & idyllic childhood as well as crazy, messy hair, I quickly gained fame as “Mira” in the neighborhood; a fact I am still trying to get over until this day! I was also famed for straight talking and calling it as I saw it, which did not go down well with everyone and occasionally got me into trouble.

Having always looked beyond the border, in 1973 and upon turning 17, I packed my bags and headed to Manchester, England for new adventures. Driving my older brother Mufid half-crazy I managed to finish my GCSE’s in 1977 before getting my degree from City University. I made many friends while in England: Vahik, Moby, Abdel Muti, to mention but a few. Apart from the formal education, I learnt so much about life not least of which, the importance of one’s signature!

The next chapter in my life was in1981 in New York and California USA, chasing the big dream where I spent a miserable period in the Big Apple then moved west and started selling ice cream by the beach, followed by selling first-copy merchandise in metro stations. In 1983, and realizing the dream needed some time to materialize I decided to visit my family in Amman, Jordan for a few days and this is where the real journey began.

One day & after endless arguments, I surrendered to my brother’s request to deliver to his sister-in-law tuition money, little did I know that from that moment on I will just keep paying more & more money to that wonderful young lady who has become my wife & partner in crime. Shortly after meeting the young, beautiful Hana and on 6^th September 1984 we were engaged and only a week later (13^th September) became husband & wife; we were in a bit of a hurry, I hear you say!

Just like that, Amman became “home” and the rollercoaster we call life began in earnest – 9 months later, and in June 1985 we welcomed our first-born Mais into the world. Just as we started to wrap our head around parenthood, and 18 months later, December 1986 we welcomed our second born, Samar. Five years later, in March 1991, our youngest daughter, Sara came into the world with a big bang – and with that, I became and still am the very proud father of three little diamonds, which I carry proudly in my heart!

Besides being the world’s most wonderful father & husband, I (somehow) had enough time to build myself quite a career in the insurance industry. Starting out in 1983 as a “rookie” employee at Arab Insurance Company I quickly and determinedly climbed up the ladder to leave in 2000 as the Deputy GM; from thereon I have been carrying the proud title of Chief Operating Officer for Trust Group in the MENA region! My reputation precedes me, and until this day I find myself continuously bombarded with wonderful job opportunities all over the globe – none of which are good enough to take me away from my family.

Key milestones in my life all revolve around my wonderful 4 ladies – in 1996, when I took the hard decision to bid them farewell for 2 long years to faraway land, Australia in order to secure them all a better future; university graduations – Mais in 2004, Samar in 2005 & Sara in 2012; welcoming new chapters – Samar becoming a diplomat in 2009, Mais getting married in 2013 and Sara starting a wonderful career in the UK in 2012. And finally, welcoming new family members and wearing the very proud badge of “Diddo”, first with my Granddaughter Jana in November 2014, and shortly afterwards my Grandson Adnan in April 2016.

Today, I turn 60, and with it celebrate the wonderful moments and people who have joined me on this most amazing journey and will continue to do so for many, many more years to come. God bless and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME…