Count Hadi al Hadad, KSCA
In 1994, I attended an event in the SCA. There were many people there, including a Knight, named Hadi. I was newly put in charge of a melee team and Hadi assisted me in what to do without making me feel stupid or patronizing me. At the end of the last big battle, Hadi and I were the only ones left and we fought from our knees and laughed the entire time. At that time, I was pretty new to the SCA and SCA combat. I didn't understand the nature of a squire/knight relationship. The next spring, I needed a prize for an event. Someone suggested I call Hadi to make a helmet. Again, he was gracious and supportive. That experience allowed me to really see his character and I was impressed at his knowledge and his ability to teach information, while making you feel valued. I spent the next several months getting to know his other squires and believed I was doing my due diligence for checking out this man, to see if I wanted to enter into a mentoring relationship. Unbeknownst to me, Hadi had been sending his squires out to check me out. We entered into that relationship in the fall of 1995. Countess Ameraulde had just given birth to Daniel two weeks before. I was given baby watching duty at that first event—and I took my duty seriously—I never took my eyes off that baby the entire time. I remembering thinking to myself how lucky this little boy was going to be: to have Hadi as his father. My father had died when I was 3 years old and I had never experienced that father and son bond before. Many years later I would look back on my life and see that I didn't have it. Hadi was the father figure I never had. He supported me in the SCA and supported me outside the SCA. When my roof needed fixing, he brought an entire crew of people and they fixed my roof within a day. When he needed help building his shop in Monterey…I was there to lend a hand. That’s what family does for each other.
That particular weekend, was a couple weeks after I had been Knighted in the SCA. I had a concern that I would no longer be a part of Hadi & Ameraulde’s life. That evening he told me that I had a choice to make. He said that I could decide to be a Knight—shield of the weak, honorable or I could just be a guy with a white belt. His wisdom struck a deep cord in me. The change of my status wasn't just a rank in the SCA but I have the opportunity to live an honorable life…walk a chivalric path…just like him. I have spent my SCA career telling Count Hadi stories. As Hadi and Ameraulde further developed their family (Elliot) and then moved to Michigan, I was concerned that the renown that I was so impressed with would fade away. So, as many of you know, I would tell the stories and explorations of my Knight and me. Most were funny, some were thoughtful, but all of them had meaning. Meaning is what Hadi brought to my life and everyone he touched. A few years ago, Hadi & Ameraulde came back to Pennsic to participate in my squire, Cadogan’s, Knighting ceremony. I was so happy they were there…I was like a kid at Christmas. I was concerned that they wouldn't know anyone in camp and when I left camp, it would be awkward. But never fear…as I came back one day from running an errand, Hadi had many of the fighters in the middle of the camp, teaching them to throw a flat snap. His natural leadership and teaching skills took over and the people he educated talked about that experience years later.
Our household and family meant everything. When my next squire, Boris, was Knighted, Hadi & Ameraulde showed up to support us. He took my Squire, Joshua, to go archery shooting. He had taught my daughter how to shoot at a Rose Tourney a few years before. It was his gift—to teach you a skill on your level.
Hadi taught me many gifts off the field too. Loyalty, honor, temperance, even faith. Not a faith in a religious way, but faith in myself and finding the goodness in others, so that I may find faith in them. His smile, his laugh, the sparkle in his eyes when he was trying out a new technique or teaching me something he knew I found challenging. I will miss those things. My squire brother, Clyde, said to me that he always found strength in knowing he could call upon Hadi’s wisdom. I never realized how true that was for me, until I realized he was gone.
So, I ask that you do one thing moving forward. Keep Hadi’s renown alive. Tell those stories…remember those times, when he provided everything you needed at that exact moment. I will never stop being his squire…or his friend. He will never stop being my Knight…or my family. I can only hope that wherever he is now, he is still laughing, smiling, and teaching. I will miss you until we meet again.
That particular weekend, was a couple weeks after I had been Knighted in the SCA. I had a concern that I would no longer be a part of Hadi & Ameraulde’s life. That evening he told me that I had a choice to make. He said that I could decide to be a Knight—shield of the weak, honorable or I could just be a guy with a white belt. His wisdom struck a deep cord in me. The change of my status wasn't just a rank in the SCA but I have the opportunity to live an honorable life…walk a chivalric path…just like him. I have spent my SCA career telling Count Hadi stories. As Hadi and Ameraulde further developed their family (Elliot) and then moved to Michigan, I was concerned that the renown that I was so impressed with would fade away. So, as many of you know, I would tell the stories and explorations of my Knight and me. Most were funny, some were thoughtful, but all of them had meaning. Meaning is what Hadi brought to my life and everyone he touched. A few years ago, Hadi & Ameraulde came back to Pennsic to participate in my squire, Cadogan’s, Knighting ceremony. I was so happy they were there…I was like a kid at Christmas. I was concerned that they wouldn't know anyone in camp and when I left camp, it would be awkward. But never fear…as I came back one day from running an errand, Hadi had many of the fighters in the middle of the camp, teaching them to throw a flat snap. His natural leadership and teaching skills took over and the people he educated talked about that experience years later.
Our household and family meant everything. When my next squire, Boris, was Knighted, Hadi & Ameraulde showed up to support us. He took my Squire, Joshua, to go archery shooting. He had taught my daughter how to shoot at a Rose Tourney a few years before. It was his gift—to teach you a skill on your level.
Hadi taught me many gifts off the field too. Loyalty, honor, temperance, even faith. Not a faith in a religious way, but faith in myself and finding the goodness in others, so that I may find faith in them. His smile, his laugh, the sparkle in his eyes when he was trying out a new technique or teaching me something he knew I found challenging. I will miss those things. My squire brother, Clyde, said to me that he always found strength in knowing he could call upon Hadi’s wisdom. I never realized how true that was for me, until I realized he was gone.
So, I ask that you do one thing moving forward. Keep Hadi’s renown alive. Tell those stories…remember those times, when he provided everything you needed at that exact moment. I will never stop being his squire…or his friend. He will never stop being my Knight…or my family. I can only hope that wherever he is now, he is still laughing, smiling, and teaching. I will miss you until we meet again.