Chapter 3....A miraculous event.

It's been some time now, and we're still traveling. We stayed in Milan, Italy, for a few months with a friend, and headed to Torino. My mom by now had found out that she was expecting again, this made baby #3. I can only imagine how frightening it must have been, to not know where you are going, how you'll provide for your family, and finding out that you have another mouth to feed. My mom was 27, that's how old I am now. I can't even begin to understand how they must of felt. All of the worries that I have today, seem so minor to what their worries were back then.

It was now winter, and close to Christmas. I had no clue back then what Christmas was. We were down to our last $400.00 USD, my parents we're trying to figure out how to finally get out and come to Canada. My dad went in to the place where you get your visa. To this day my dad says that the guy at the front that was approving the visas looked like Hitler, and just as mean. When my dad got to the front, he didn't even get a chance to explain to the guy our situation, he just got turned away with a decline.

Clearly, I don't have the right way of expressing his emotions after that. But you can imagine the fear, pain, anxiety, just to name a few. You're in a new country, barely able to speak the language, out of money, pregnant wife, two kids, no job, no hope and only 27!

My dad says that he was wondering the streets for hours just sobbing, not knowing where to go and what to do. What a heavy burden that must of been on him. It was Christmas eve, and snowing. He found himself in front of a huge Catholic church, with a larger than life gold cross on the outside. He walked his way to the front, where hundreds of candles were lit in front of him. He said " I looked up, and saw Jesus on the cross, and my heart just exploded and I cried and cried". " I started talking to Jesus and I just said, look, I know that you are not my God, but you are the God of these people and the God of this country. I need your help, and I promise you that if you help me, I will light 5 candles on the eve of your birth ever year to show you my appreciation." My dad said that as he stood up and started to walk, he looked up at this huge ceramic Jesus on the cross, and it smiled at him. He said every direction I went His eyes followed me.

So the next day, my dad went back to the same office, stood in front of the same guy, presented our passports, and just as the guy came to say no, again, the guy smiled and gave us our visas. It was amazing and truly a miracle. We ran to catch the trains, my mom, my sister and my self got on the train, and as my dad was standing outside to pay for our tickets, the train began to move. Before we knew it, we were screaming for my dad, and just like in the movies, my dad was running, like his life depended on it (literally) and he got on with the help from a few young men. I remember I was balling my face off, thinking that we had lost my daddy, and just as he came to hug me and to wipe my tears away, I punched him in the gut, and told him not to do that again. We still have a good chuckle about that one.

We made it to Canada, and my dad lit those candles every Christmas eve for 14 years.

Chapter 2..... at war.

My earliest memory of the war, is one that is quite traumatic. The sirens of war were going off again, and we heard a lot of bombs going off. My dad had run back into the house and was yell "get under the stairs!" we ran down to the cold cellar and hid under the stairs. The whole house shook, it was pitch black. My dad had thrown himself on top of my mom and my sister and myself. Out of panic and fear I remember my dad telling my mom not to be afraid and he had salt in his pockets and started rubbing it on the roofs of our mouths. It's an old remedy that keeps you from fainting and going into shock. We were there for what seemed to be forever. I don't know after how long we came out and saw the destruction in the streets.

You see, our battle field was our front door, the park across the street. The school yard, corner coffee shop. there were no trenches and empty fields. Just our backyards.

Time went on...so did the war. Another moment I remember is, we 9my cousins and I) were watching tv in my grandmothers house, when the whole house started to shake, and we all went and stood in the doorways. The tv fell over. the windows broke. I remember at nights we could not have any lights on, because the enemy could see us through radar, and drop bombs on us. So if we had to use the bathroom, we would stumble in the dark, until we found it.

My parents had made the biggest decision of their life, and that was to move out of Iran. We sold our house, with everything in it, and tried to get out. not as easy as you think. We traveled by night, and trusted no one. We arrived in Turkey, and stayed a while. From Turkey we headed off to Syria, and from Syria to Lebanon. Now Lebanon had broken out in a war as well, I can't be sure if they too were fighting with Iraq, or if it was a civil war. Regardless, there was war, and so all of the planes were grounded, except for one last one that we had managed to get on. I believe that we were headed to Yugoslavia. As we were in mid air, the pilot came on and told everyone that were heading towards some turbulence, so take your seat and buckle up! So people buckled up and started praying. (note here that everyone on that plane was muslim)

So a bit goes by and there is no turbulence, so my dad opens up the blinds on his window, and flat out sees that as we were flying mid air, there were missiles going past us. I don't think that I have ever seen that look of fear, on his face...ever.

Chapter 1.... A star is born.

I was born in Tehran, Iran 27 years ago, during the 10 year war between Iraq and Iran, and the Iranian revolution. I was born 2 months premature and weighted 2.5 lbs. and lived about 4 months in an incubator. My mother fell as she was being chased by a pack of stray dogs. There was no hope for a baby to live in North America back then with those circumstances, and the odds were even worse when living in a third world country.

But I did, with every fighting breathe, I did. I was born on my older sisters birthday, which I'm sure she wasn't too happy about. The translation of my name means star. I guess a fighting star at that.