The best day of my life

Balatarin
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Jahanshah Javid
by Jahanshah Javid
14-Oct-2009
 

"Look! It's a full moon."

My daughter Mahdiyeh, who was visiting San Francisco a few weeks ago, looks up.

"Do you know who it reminds me of?"

"Who?"

"You know... The One."

"Which 'one' is it this time?"

I tell her.

"Oh gawwwd..."

I met her in Tehran twenty years ago, in the summer of 1989, a few months before leaving Iran for the U.S. She was Mahdiyeh's kindergarten teacher. I would write her poems and pass them on through Mahdiyeh.

***

It's sometime around December 1991. I'm sitting on the bathroom floor of a hotel room. Jimmy J is asleep. We are in Denver to receive student journalism awards. It's 11 in the morning on a Friday, Tehran time. Time for my call to the love of my life. I hear the sound of the beep which confirms the international connection. My heart beats with excitement and anticipation. She answers.

"Alo?"

"Hi! Chetori? Khoobi?"

Silence.

"... Hello? Are you there?"

"I got your letter." She sounds upset, angry. I don't recognize this tone.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! You don't remember what you wrote? It's over. Don't call me ever again!"

I feel like I'm sinking into a black hole. I'm in a state of panic. I start writing. I tell her how sorry I am, that I didn't mean to hurt her. I write "I love you, I love you, I love you..." page after page after page until my handwriting deteriorates.

***

Two weeks earlier I wasn't even sure she was my girlfriend. I had seen her during a visit to Tehran that summer. We had a wonderful time. It was heaven. One night at her home, before having dinner with her family, I took out a ring and proposed. She was surprised. She said she never wanted to get married. Let's wait and see, she said. To me, that was a no. I returned to the U.S., deeply in love but unsure of our future. I started dating a colleague at the college newspaper. It made me feel sad and guilty. I wrote to her and told her how I felt. She was the only person in the world I could confess to.

A few days later I went to Florida to visit my mother. One night I called Tehran. She was in a cheerful mood. I decide to pop the question again, just for fun.

"So will you become Mrs. Javid or not?"

Silence.

"... Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I will."

I want to scream with joy.

In the morning I tell my mother. She's thrilled. We drive to Miami's South Beach. I fold up my jeans and step into the warm ocean. My mother takes a picture. I have it in an album somewhere. I'm standing with feet slightly apart. My face says it all: It's the best day of my life.

Balatarin
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more from Jahanshah Javid
 
Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

I'm confused....

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:17 PM PDT

Faramarz ,

I thought JJ was twiced divorced already.

Would it not be best to say three times the charm instead? :o)

For JJ that is. May he finally find everlasting joy............

 

 


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TheMrs

Khoob adamo yadeh eshgheh

by TheMrs on Thu Oct 15, 2009 05:47 PM PDT

Khoob adamo yadeh eshgheh aval o ghadimi mindazio depress mikoni!


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yolanda

........

by yolanda on Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:34 PM PDT

You can post your old love poems if you don't mind, we will read them.

I like Sheereen's post. Great job!

Faramarz's post is very funny, it cracked me up!

 

Thanks,

 


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sheereen

the one

by sheereen on Thu Oct 15, 2009 09:23 AM PDT

if there is "the one" then there is no one else. 

for me, if i love "the one", there is no one else.

i think if you loved her, then you should have waited until you didn't love her anymore before being with someone else.

nice story though...specially where you wrote her i love you so many times...

can you write another love poem, or do you have to be inspired first?


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Faramarz

Eat, Drink and Re-Marry

by Faramarz on Thu Oct 15, 2009 09:07 AM PDT

They say that: “Second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience!” But, what is life without hope? Congratulations JJ! And as Luca Brasi said in The Godfather, “May the first child be a masculine child!”

There is something special about young female school teachers. I had my first crush on my kindergarten teacher, and I still wonder what would have happened if I were a few years older back then.

But on the serious side, I can see some major changes coming to Iranian.com after this wonderful news. Here is one scenario:

It is a Saturday morning. The Iranian.com has not been updated for days and no one has heard from JJ. The crowd is getting anxious. So finally, somebody steps in.

Iranian.com Reader: “Mrs. Javid, can JJ come out and play? Pleeeeease!”

Mrs. Javid: “No. Absolutely Not! JJ is in a timeout. He was supposed to clean the garage and put out the garbage, but he forgot because he was playing with that stupid computer!”


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yolanda

....

by yolanda on Thu Oct 15, 2009 06:21 AM PDT

Thank you for the "translation"...so you were a "two-timer"! o:)

Thank you! Looking forward to your "new chapter" to read!

best wishes,


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Souri

Thanks JJ

by Souri on Thu Oct 15, 2009 05:38 AM PDT

Esther;

It depends what state  of mind you are in, when you are reading a text.

Yes, after J explained it, I got it. 

And also, today is another day too ;)


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Esther

Less is more

by Esther on Thu Oct 15, 2009 04:32 AM PDT

JJ, I thought your story was very beautiful and complete as written.  The reader just has to get used to the "Memento" (reverse chronological) format.  Of course, you know the question on everyone's minds now is, "Which 'one' will it be next time?" :)


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Red Wine

...

by Red Wine on Thu Oct 15, 2009 01:24 AM PDT

بارها گفتیم و گفته شد و گفته خواهد شد، زن ایرانی داستان زیاد دارد... کار زن ایرانی حکمت دارد و زندگی‌اش هزار حکایت . خداوند به فریاد عاشقانشان رسد که محتاج دعا هستند و لطف دربار حق !

جهانشاه جان،بیشتر اینجور مطالب ادبی‌ بنویس... خوب مینویسی .

عزت زیاد.

 


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HollyUSA

Crap!

by HollyUSA on Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:43 PM PDT

Oh jeez. I hope you learned a lesson from that JJ.


  •  
Jahanshah Javid

Translation!

by Jahanshah Javid on Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:30 PM PDT

She received my confession letter days after she said she would marry me. The end!


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HollyUSA

Doroogh Chera

by HollyUSA on Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:21 PM PDT

Souri jan, manam sar dar nayavordam! Falling in love usually has a heck of a lot more detail to it! I think JJ is a tease :P


  •  
Monda

So what happened next??!

by Monda on Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:20 PM PDT

can't wait to find out!


  •  
yolanda

.......

by yolanda on Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:26 PM PDT

Thank you! I am looking forward to your "next chapter" :o)

It is just amazing that so many people come to IC to pour their hearts out! They must feel pretty secure and they are also very "brave"!

thanks,


  •  
Jahanshah Javid

Love

by Jahanshah Javid on Wed Oct 14, 2009 09:02 PM PDT

"No Comment": You know me better than anyone. You know this chapter hasn't stopped me from falling in love :o)


  •  
No Comment

aawwwwwww

by No Comment on Wed Oct 14, 2009 08:45 PM PDT

i still hope she wasn't The one. i think you haven't found the one yet


  •  
Souri

Translation please!

by Souri on Wed Oct 14, 2009 08:37 PM PDT

JJ jan,

I didn't  get this story. What poem you were talking about?

Sometimes it happens in Iran, then you got here and you went from Denver to Miami.......lol

What did you write for her? That you had an affair with another woman?

She didn't want to marry you first, then she accepted when you confessed to her that you had an affair?

I'm puzzled........that doesn't make any sense to me. your story was too short, not a complete story (yani sar o tahesh maloum naboud, lol)

But I'm too tired tonight.

I will be back tomorrow to read it again.......

Maybe you will add some more details till tomorrow ;)


  •  
Jahanshah Javid

Yolanda

by Jahanshah Javid on Wed Oct 14, 2009 08:22 PM PDT

Non-fiction :o)


  •  
yolanda

....

by yolanda on Wed Oct 14, 2009 08:20 PM PDT

Wow, long distance courtship does work! Thanks for the story, but is this fiction? non-fiction? or realistic fiction?

thanks,

 


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