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Joseph ~ Zuzu ~ was the first born son of Fady and Milia Garabet emigrants from Lebanon.
Joseph was born on January 30th 1989, in the Pride of the Foothills, Glendora, a city that he loved so much, a city where he played, studied, met his friends, played sports and music and spent most of his time.
At the age of 3, Joseph joined the Montessori pre-school on Route 66. He was famous for his blue eyes, bright smile and his curiosity. We all remember Zuzu in his pre-K graduation party when he proudly represented the State of New Mexico. Jeddo said that day "this is money well spent, nine month in school just to hear Zuzu Say 'New Mexico'"
During these years, the family lived on Compromise Lane off Route 66. Joseph had a blast playing the back-yard, and driving his electric car in the driveway of the house. When Joseph was 4 years, the family left Glendora to La Verne to a nice house on the hill.
Who can forget the first Sunday in La Verne, our new next door neighbors took Joseph to Church. Joseph nagged so much, that they had to shorten the trip and return back after ten minutes of the service. Zuzu could not wait to see mom and Dad again.
After the adventurous years in the Monetssori, Joseph went to Foothill Christian in Glendora, his second home, where he will spend the next eight years of his young life.
In August 1993, Joseph got a new sister, Rita... From curiosity to jealousy, from indifference to Love, Joseph grew closer to Rita every day and became her Guardian Angel.
During the foothill years, Joseph joined the soccer team, worked hard on his Kung Fu till he got his brown belt. He loved RC cars, model airplanes, and fixing anything. But his real passion was music, he studied classical guitar and was a pro on drums.
After his graduation from Foothill Christian, Joseph joined Damien High School in La Verne. He spent two years among new friends, like Alex, Brandon and many more. The new rules at Damien were a big change from the days at Foothill. At Damien, Joseph studied hard, joined the Tijuana mission, was member of the tennis and fishing club. At Damien, Zuzu joined in the percussions in the high school band, this is where he found himself: Drum Line. His passion for Drums grew day by day, till his last day on earth, Zuzu would practice endless hours and was getting a band together.
For his sophomore and senior year, Joseph decided to go back to Glendora and joined Glendora High for the last two years. Zuzu graduated GHS in summer of 2007.
Joseph lived his best adolescent moments among his friends at GHS. Since 2006 Joseph was helping out at the Laser Eye Center where he was doing computer work, document management and finally was promoted to a surgical tech with Dr Fahed - AKA uncle Tony. The highlight of the week was Saturday mornings in Cerritos, Zuzu on the surgical team for another full day of surgeries. Joseph was anxious to be like uncle, an eye doctor, or like uncle Naim an OBGYN, a doctor for sure, but not sure about the specialty.
To get closer to his goals or becoming a doctor, Zuzu joined Chaffey College in UPland. Six weeks into the program Joseph borrowed a bike from one of his class mates, drove up the hill to never complete his journey. Joseph joined the legion of Angles in Heaven that Monday night, the first day of October 2007...
This was the end of the dream.
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