(Disclaimer: In conversation, I’ve always allowed my friends featured on the blog to speak freely. All opinions expressed in the video series are their own.)
Dear friend,
Nahid and I met when she came to buy a ring from me about two years ago. She had replied to a Facebook marketplace ad. With time, and as a repeat customer, her love of both jewelry and storytelling began to inspire me.
As the middle of nine children, she had once dreamed of becoming an artist before being forced to marry her first boyfriend. Weeks ago, we sat down to record our conversation in which we spoke about her life pre and post the 1979 Iranian revolution, her marriage, life in Canada and current fears.
Central to our discussion are Nahid’s three visits back to Iran since immigrating to Canada in 1988. The first and least notable was in 1999, 13 years after leaving.
The second time was because of her younger sister. Her sister had lived in Canada with her two young children, but in Nahid’s own words, “She had a problem with her husband. He was very abusive. He was a very sick person who hated women.”
Eventually, he took the kids to Iran and forbade her sister from seeing them. Her sister consulted a lawyer in Dubai, but Iranian law favours men, leaving her with no way to get her children back. In Dubai, she committed suicide.
Eight months after her sister passed, Nahid returned to Iran to stay with her family and during her visit, her brother was killed. He was a brilliant man who spoke three languages and was a PhD student working in Sweden.
His wife and daughter wanted to move back to Iran, and there, the government arranged a meeting with him. He later told Nahid that they had asked to send him to spy in Europe. Her brother insisted that he go back to Sweden to collect his life and business, but three days later, she found him dead in his bedroom. One of his hands was tied to the headboard.
They had less than 24 hours to bury him and were forbidden from investigating his death. Nahid knew that even from Canada, such an investigation would go nowhere.
Today, she is inspired by the bravery of young Iranians who are advocating for change—those who took to the streets of Iran with their wills in their pockets or posted online, risking their lives for a better future.
She reminds me that Iran is a beautiful country and that with change, more of us will be able to see it.
