by Mike Lesko
Bedford Times-Register Editor
Bedford -- Roger Abood says the best decision he ever made was to marry his wife, Kathleen.
They met as members of a young adults group at their church. Both were 18 and attended dances and picnics together. At age 23, they were married.
"She is the mainstay of my support system," said the retiring St. Peter Chanel High School principal. "She is more than a partner."
Kathy Abood was the assistant head nurse on the VIP floor at the Cleveland Clinic, where she was a nurse for 38 years before retiring two years ago.
In 1987, King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan visited the Clinic for a check-up. Kathy and the king struck up a friendship, and he invited her to bring her family on a two-week trip to Jordan.
Roger and Kathy were told that they could bring their four children with them. That includes David, who now lives Broadview Heights, Daniel (Macedonia), Mark (Brunswick) and Mary Hilberg (Medina). All four children graduated from Chanel, and Daniel Abood specializes in internal medicine at the Veterans Administration in Akron. He and wife Mary Ellen have three daughters.
"King Hussein set up the itinerary for us," Roger said. "He gave us an escort. We saw all the highlights of the country."
The trip started and ended in Iman, Jordan.
"We saw the Dead Sea and toured some of the other main cities in the Jordan Valley," Abood said. "We were at Petra, which is like the 'pink city' from the 'Indiana Jones' movies."
What did Abood call the late king?
"We called him, Your Excellency," he said.
Abood sometimes thinks about his fantastic journey while relaxing at his Brecksville home.
"It was an unbelievable experience for our family," he said.
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