Granddaddy would often surprise us and pick us up for the weekend. I can remember us being at Muhammad-Ali’s mansion, which was right around my grandparents’ home. Granddaddy would send a personal driver to chauffeur us to Ali’s house for private Arabic lessons: I refused to participate. I would sneak out of class and wander around the very same house that had brought me so much joy earlier in my life.
Nevertheless, granddaddy Jabir was the highlight of my childhood. He had a family of his own and a busy career overseeing Muhammad Ali’s business affairs. But when he wasn’t negotiating multimillion-dollar deals for the heavyweight champion of the world, he would carve out time in his schedule to spend with us. And while most kids would have been happy to see their grandfather and get just one dollar, I was used to getting crisp, one hundred dollar bills from my grandfather. Granddaddy even surprised us one day and brought Muhammad-Ali to our home.
But he didn’t stop there.
