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Some
of the Iranian Family ... and Friends This
is the Mahdavi Family who originally
came from the town of Mashad, northeast of Tehran (see map below). Color
foto, Tehran 1996, left to right sitting, Mohamad
Reza (Mami) Mahdavi (Minou's
younger brother), Maryam (Minou's younger
sister), Grand Mom Iran Malek Mahdavi Mousheri
(the matriarch of the family), standing Sohi,
(Mami's wife and cousin), Minou, sister
in law Toufan
(Abby's wife) and Abby
Mahdavi, Minou's younger brother. (Right,
black & white foto, circa 1950, Grand Mom Iran Malek, Grand Dad Dr.
Mahdavi, left to right Abby, Minou, Mami and upfront Maryam). A
long time ago when Minou was still a little girl (before they sent her
off to England to get her junior & senior high school education) Grand
Dad Dr. Mahdavi had a premonition when he said to her: "How would you
like to marry an Indonesian?" not knowing years later after he passed
away that Minou would marry an Indonesian on her own. Must be a pre-arranged
destiny as one enters life, as some people believe, the life program was
already made up. A kind of "I want to enter such and such high school,
at such an address and the teachers are so and so." Grand Dad Mahdavi must
have felt this life program. There are 7 billion people on this earth,
all of them dynamic. Surely, not all of them stick to same old stereotypes
of life beliefs.
Mami
and Sohi who live in Dubai have a son, Ali, and daughter Yasi who got married
recently in Dubai (when was that -- 2 years ago?) (Left
foto, Sohi, Minou, the groom Khashayar,
bride
Yasi, and
Mami. Right, Minou and
the Matriarch when she visited Mom
in Tehran 1997. She took Cyrus after so many
years when he became a young man. His Dad sent him off to Tehran on his
own so that Cyrus got acquainted where his other half came from, when Mom
was about to leave Tehran. So, Mom stayed longer).
(Far left, Mana
and husband Paul Garden, an Englishman,
who now live in Stanford, England). Mana
has a cute little girl, named Tara,
(left
foto, and animation, Tara, Mana & Minou and Daddy Paul)
whose accent is really English, Queen's English no less ... real cute.
Dr.
Heideh Harger, from Tehran, (below, right foto) a micro
biologist, with 2 great little girls (well, they are good looking early
twenties young women now) whose growing up lives since the ages of
3 and 5 were in Jakarta. Heideh
is a friend, a friend in every sense of the word which anyone would love
to have as a friend because she is a loyal friend -- come high or low waters
-- and loyal friends are hard to come by. She once had a kindergarten for
little tots in Jakarta, and thereafter became a teacher at the Jakarta
International School (JIS) one of the leading high school for expatriates.
Her husband
Dr.
Robin Harger from New Zealand was
a United Nations guy up until August '98. He is no less than his wife.
Doesn't talk much, but when he talks he says as it is -- hits the essence
where it matters. Much like Adji does, doesn't beat about the bush, doesn't
go for how's-the-weather rubbish. The Hargers stayed for some 13 (or was
it 15) years in Jakarta. They loved it so much that every opportunity to
extend their stay, they extended it. Many expatriates are like that. Some
expatriates who have just arrived and does not know the place yet, may
knock his surroundings, but after a little while (as soon as they realize
this place is no copycat New York or London -- Jakarta's population during
the day is 17 million; 10.5 million at night, and is some 800 square kilometers,
according to city government officials -- and doesn't intend to be one
because of its own charms both negative and positive), they love the place,
the people and the variety of life styles.
Then we have another close and a very old
friend, Aska
Kunze who is married to a German, Klaus
Kunze. At one point in their lives there
was a little mix-up about their nationalities. Aska is from Ambon and an
Indonesian citizen. So one day some 40 odd years ago or thereabouts when
she married Klaus, she took up his German citizenship, thinking to be one
with her husband. But then good old Klaus took up and got his Indonesian
citizenship. So here we have this bule (a white person) who speaks
perfect Indonesian and for all intent and purposes when talking to Klaus
on the phone for the first time think he is an indigenous Indonesian. Behold,
when meeting him we have this bule European instead. To get back
to the story, Aska--who by then became a German--ends up asking for a "stay
permit" to stay in her own country each year while dear Klaus didn't need
one anymore because Klaus
decided that he wanted to stay here for good. Aska finally got her citizenship
back after putting up with a few years of the hassles of getting it back.
Aska is
a friend who one can depend on to come up with something which one needs,
all because she is a very thoughtful person. This something does not have
to be something expensive or materially valuable in itself. It's like if
one suddenly needs $1 and one doesn't have it because the banks are closed,
dropped the $1 somewhere in the street or something like that, or transportation
from point A to point B because one's own transportation has a flat tire,
Aska
can be depended to be thoughtful enough to come up with this help. Little
things like these when one doesn't have it at that point in time, is something
which in the minds of those being helped means a lot ... far more than
the actual monetary or material value of that help. Helping people is what
one associates Aska
with. Must be her religion.
One day Klaus'
twin brother and a bunch of German sisters and cousins visited Jakarta
a few years ago. He was an exact replica of the Indonesian Klaus.
So, silly old Adji says to his replica, "How come you grew a beard so fast,"
in Indonesian ofcourse (because dear Klaus was clean shaven as always just
a few days ago when they last met), and dear old replica mumbles something
in German not understanding what the heck Adji was saying, observed by
the whole Kunze family. Everybody had a good laugh at Adji's expense. Well,
it was funny ... because here was Adji whacking Klaus in the back while
replica was probably thinking who is this idiot whom he never met in his
life whacking him in the back.
And Klaus
was like a little kid with his new toy when he first bought a brand new Mitsubishi
Eterna, the car that Adji kept telling everybody was a fantastic car,
dirt cheap to operate (8 to 9 kilometers per liter, the most important
thing), easy to get spare parts (because of local assembly), stable at
high 200 kmh speeds, and fast as hell. Unlike the same class 2,000 cc Honda
passenger car which Adji is afraid to drive at speeds of over 150 kmh because
of the unsure feeling of who is in control, the car or the driver.
When Adji at first was
raving about the Mitsubishi Eterna, Klaus,
like most listeners kind of gave that "...yeah, yeah ... so what
..." kind of facial expression. Then one day, Klaus drives in with a spanking
new Eterna, and proceeded to tell Adji "... I stepped on the gas,
and you should see that guy in the other car ... vroom ... and he was left
in the dust ... fantastic ... and cheap to run", and on and on, he went
raving about his new toy. To which Adji told Klaus "I told you so ...".
Then
we have Nahid
Houshmandformer career diplomat at
the Iranian Foreign Ministry who married businessman
Manucher
Houshmand who was President of a paint
company in Indonesia when we met them and became friends. (Right
foto Marcia Sabeti, an American and
lady of an Iranian U.N. agency big shot, Minou standing, and Nahid -- must
be writing a check or something).
Nahid and Manucher
(people sometimes call him with his adopted name 'Mark'. Kind of silly,
when the Iranian name Manucher seems to be more dignified) have two great
kids, the elder Afzadeh,
a young woman of 18, and a handsome young man of 17 Arianwho
is a sensitive person. He plays the guitar with feeling, according to Auntie
Minou and, apparently, for a young man he has a grasp of life beyond his
years. Must be his previous life experiences.
Take his poems. One
of them which he sent to Auntie Minou describes life below.
..Everything I wish I could articulate myself..
I visited (this) webpage and found it to be everything I wish I could articulate
myself ... although I know what a heart wrenching task it must have been
to put it in words, I am grateful to you for what you have done ... Teresa,
Arkansas, U.S.A. (a bereaved parent who commemorates her daughter's passing
away by inviting other bereaved parents to
commemorate their loved one on her website)
I've
found a shelter in a storm.. How
amazingly wonderful your site is! My son Karl died on 2/21/01. He was 18.
I miss him IMMENSELY! Hugs to you and your beautiful wife. Thank you so
much for sharing your hearts. I especially Love seeing photo's of your
beautiful son Cyrus. I'm saving your web pages and plan to read EVERY word...
It's so wonderful you have such an important and extensive site for human
beings in such pain and need. Know that today, thank's be to God and You,
I've found a shelter in a storm. GOD BLESS YOU & YOUR WIFE AND DEAR
CYRUS!!! Colleen McCurdy,
25 Mar. 01 | What
other folks had to say... | The
Do's and Don'ts in facing bereaved parentsfrom the bereaved's perspectives||
After-Death
Communications is Real The Miracle of the Fan |
Our
Son in the other dimension
What
a Dad had to say ...
..it brought tears in my eyes.. I
am so sorry about the loss of your son Cyrus. I
have read the story that you wrote in the page. I cannot imagine the
trauma that you and your wife had to go thru, it brought tears in my eyes
at the middle of the story what you must have gone thru. How sad it must
had been. We too had our sorrows and had to go thru the valley of the unknown
hurts of life... Gustaaf Vogelsang
8 August, 2001
Start
life with someone you can spend hours talking about anything. Physical attributes
(and physical attraction) come second ... they go away in time. When you
can communicate and because of it understand each other, you
will avoid misunderstandings, fights and boredom ... then Life Together
after 38 years can become a reality ... and is worth it.
The writer is a Member
of
and a former English language
journalist & editor with the AFP French National news agency &
Antara Indonesian News Agencies in London, Paris, & Koln in the mid-'60s
The
beige background of the menu on the left comes from the "batik" motif or
"bahan titik", an acronym which means material made from dots, the
process of making handmade batik cloth.
First
uploaded 17th. October, 1997 Last 8
August, 2001
*Cyrus
our youngest passed away on the 28th. of January 1999 at the age of 25.
The family is mourning his passing away. See what God says about our children
...
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This
is the Mahdavi Family who originally
came from the town of Mashad, northeast of Tehran (see map below). 
Color
foto, Tehran 1996, left to right sitting, Mohamad
Reza (Mami) Mahdavi (Minou's
younger brother), Maryam (Minou's younger
sister), Grand Mom Iran Malek Mahdavi Mousheri
(the matriarch of the family), standing Sohi,
(Mami's wife and cousin), Minou, sister
in law Toufan
(Abby's wife) and Abby
Mahdavi, Minou's younger brother. (Right,
black & white foto, circa 1950, Grand Mom Iran Malek, Grand Dad Dr.
Mahdavi, left to right Abby, Minou, Mami and upfront Maryam). A
long time ago when Minou was still a little girl (before they sent her
off to England to get her junior & senior high school education) Grand
Dad Dr. Mahdavi had a premonition when he said to her: "How would you
like to marry an Indonesian?" not knowing years later after he passed
away that Minou would marry an Indonesian on her own. Must be a pre-arranged
destiny as one enters life, as some people believe, the life program was
already made up. A kind of "I want to enter such and such high school,
at such an address and the teachers are so and so." Grand Dad Mahdavi must
have felt this life program. There are 7 billion people on this earth,
all of them dynamic. Surely, not all of them stick to same old stereotypes
of life beliefs.
Mami
and Sohi who live in Dubai have a son, Ali, and daughter Yasi who got married
recently in Dubai (when was that -- 2 years ago?) (Left
foto, Sohi, Minou, the groom Khashayar,
bride
Yasi, and
Mami. Right, Minou and
the Matriarch when she visited Mom
in Tehran 1997. She took 
Dr.
Heideh Harger, from Tehran, (below, right foto) a micro
biologist, with 2 great little girls (well, they are good looking early
twenties young women now) whose growing up lives since the ages of
3 and 5 were in Jakarta. 
Heideh
is a friend, a friend in every sense of the word which anyone would love
to have as a friend because she is a loyal friend -- come high or low waters
-- and loyal friends are hard to come by. She once had a kindergarten for
little tots in Jakarta, and thereafter became a teacher at the Jakarta
International School (JIS) one of the leading high school for expatriates.
Aska
Kunze who is married to a German, Klaus
Kunze. At one point in their lives there
was a little mix-up about their nationalities. Aska is from Ambon and an
Indonesian citizen. So one day some 40 odd years ago or thereabouts when
she married Klaus, she took up his German citizenship, thinking to be one
with her husband. But then good old Klaus took up and got his Indonesian
citizenship. So here we have this bule (a white person) who speaks
perfect Indonesian and for all intent and purposes when talking to Klaus
on the phone for the first time think he is an indigenous Indonesian. Behold,
when meeting him we have this bule European instead. To get back
to the story, Aska--who by then became a German--ends up asking for a "stay
permit" to stay in her own country each year while dear Klaus didn't need
one anymore because Klaus
decided that he wanted to stay here for good. Aska finally got her citizenship
back after putting up with a few years of the hassles of getting it back.
Then
we have Nahid
Houshmand former career diplomat at
the Iranian Foreign Ministry who married businessman
Manucher
Houshmand who was President of a paint
company in Indonesia when we met them and became friends. (Right
foto Marcia Sabeti, an American and
lady of an Iranian U.N. agency big shot, Minou standing, and Nahid -- must
be writing a check or something).
8
August, 2001
