Meet the Iranian Side of My Family!

Meet the Iranian Side of My Family!
(At least some of them)

(Another Example of Where “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!”)

This is my Iranian family from the 1990s (well, it’s at least some of them…roughly fifteen percent of some 160 family members, if you count my husband Mahmoud’s parents, his parents’ parents, his parents’ siblings with all their spouses and children, and his own eight siblings with their spouses and children. At the time of this photo, I had reached my fortieth birthday, and Mahmoud (who took the photo) had reached his forty-third.

The picture was taken January 1995—about four months after our son Nikiar (“Niki”) was born. Although he is the youngest person pictured above (on his mother’s lap), he celebrated his thirtieth birthday this year in September!)
 
Oh, and as I hinted--I’m in the photo as well (I bet you can spot me if you really try!) It was a season when my hair was “big” and the color of coal (instead of “little” and the color of snow, like now!) A time when whatever color my hair was on a given day (yes, I let my mother and sisters-in-law try out a few shades on me, for the sheer fun of it), people stuck around to get to know the “me” inside—and, lucky for me, they cared enough to keep coming back for more!

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In my upcoming memoir (Road Between Two Hearts: A Black American Woman Discovers Iran), scheduled to be released spring of 2025, readers (which I hope will include you!) will pick up a little about nearly every person in the photo above—and what they taught me about Iranian culture and customs, dynamics of American/Iranian relations, the hazards and rewards that come with crossing cultures when living in Iran, the gifts and surprises that can come from interfaith dialogue, and their special brand of cross-cultural love, family style!
 
For example, you’ll read about:

• A time or two someone behind me tugged at my headscarf till I was scarf-less (like in the photo above)—and the reason behind the tug!
• What our daughter Parisa did at one year old when she saw her Iranian grandmother in Iran for the very first time--and what her grandmother had to say about it. (Hint: her words inspired the book’s title!)  
• How, when Nikiar our son was born two years later, my mother-in-law (who never went to college) introduced and ultimately proved a genetics principle to me without actually trying (and taught me a lesson in humility in the process).
• Where I discovered a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, laughing amicably together—and its significance to the owner.  

Finally: if you’re a longtime reader of my newsletter or blog, I may have already introduced you to three young girls from the photo above in an earlier post—except that when you first saw them, they were in an online interview—and almost thirty years older than as pictured in the photo! All three of them—each one now a beautiful grown woman—are nieces to Mahmoud and me and include the following:

• Roxareh (the girl in the above photo sitting next to our daughter Parisa and wearing a red dress), who proudly presented a charming introductory overview of Iran  (on YouTube, embedded in my June blogpost from 2022.)

 

• Ghazaleh (the girl in orange with her face propped in her hands), who explained her life in Iran, how her parents raised her, and the impact her upbringing has had on her life (on YouTube, embedded in my August blogpost from 2022.)

 

• Ghazal (the small girl sitting beside her grandfather [Mahmoud’s father] at the back and center of the photograph), a scholar and artist who presents and interprets for us her favorite original abstract painting (again on YouTube, embedded in my November blogpost from 2022.)

In short: if today’s post sounds like I am getting excited, it’s because I am excited! I am eager to share my story with you—a story I never expected to be able to tell! So, in my first post for 2025, I will share more details about the progress of the book and when it will become available in the new year!
 
In the meantime, wishing people of all traditions a meaningful holiday season and a happy new year in 2025!
 
All best,                                                               
Leslie
                                                                                      
--Leslie Powell Ahmadi

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