I was living in Mashhad, one of the most beautiful cities in Iran. I just started junior high. We were very happy, living peacefully, not only my family but everybody. At peace, working, with their families everybody was enjoying life. Everybody was free to wear whatever he or she wanted, whenever they wanted. Economically everybody was doing OK.

We were surprised to all of a sudden hear whispers that there was a guy living in Paris fighting for Iran. He was very religious and people said that he wanted to stop the Shah [king] for being unfair to the Iranian people. So, we all thought it sounded better. Suddenly people were in the streets protesting [violently], "We don’t want you Shah! We want Khomeini!"

So we started knowing who is Khomeini. Personally, I fell in love with that old man and his speeches without any knowledge of who he really was. So I started going in the street too. We found armies and police in the streets. It was getting very violent. They started shooting people in the protesting.

I don’t know why people were not scared. My mom, personally, didn’t let me go to school anymore. Actually, after a few days all the schools and offices closed anyway. I tried to sneak out and go to the streets to protest. The gun shooting was scary. I asked myself, "How can your own government kill your own people?"

One night I decided with some friends to join one of the big protests. There were more than 100,000 of us in the streets. Suddenly the army and the police came after the people and were shooting everybody. Then the big cars – I don’t know what they’re called—came after us. I had never seen those cars in my life. I heard people yelling, "Run! Run! The tanks are coming!" I guess that’s what they’re called: tanks. I don’t know how fast I was running but I found myself in the corner of a hospital. I should remind you that the electricity was out in the whole town; only some parts still had electricity. I heard the gun shooting getting close to me. I knew if they saw me they would shoot me for sure. I hid myself behind a bush. I stayed there for two hours without moving—I couldn’t move anyway. Finally I heard everything quiet down and I walked home through the alleys. The only thing you could hear was the sound of the ambulance coming for the hurt and dead. Finally I got home. I saw my mom outside at two o’ clock in the morning, crying, like so many other moms. She saw me, but she didn’t say a word. She was just glad I was back alive. I knew she would fix me up tomorrow [laughs].

I don’t know how many more times I went into the streets but I managed to stay alive. If I had knowledge that I have right now, I wouldn’t have been so foolish as to jeopardize my life for nothing… nothing. I cannot tell you how much I had done because it could be a book.

Finally, Shah said, "I can’t stop the people." He decided to leave the country and Kohmeini came from France. I can’t tell you how many people went to Tehran to welcome him. Everyone was happy. "We will have more freedom and better life," they said. It took one year for everything to come to normal and riots to stop. Nothing special was happening except they announced that all women had to cover themselves all the way. Women kind of agreed, but we really didn’t have any other choice anyway.

The second year, people were very depressed. Everything Kohmeini said did not happen. Nothing good was happening. They [the government] started taking peoples property, cars, everything. From people that were in the middle class, people in the upper class, everybody. They finally started picking on my father. We were a little above middle class but not quiet upper class. Anyways, my father had quiet a bit of property. He said we had better leave the country.

We needed money. He already couldn’t send money for my sisters’ educations in America. So, he decided to sell some property. One of his friends was interested and they began discussing the value of the property. They decided to do the paperwork the next morning at ten o’clock.

I should say my mom wasn’t with us. She was too busy traveling, trying to get back property that the government had taken from us before. The next morning came and we were so happy because we thought we could finally get the money to leave. Ten o’clock came and the doorbell rang. I ran to open the door. Oh my God, it wasn’t only one person by the door. It was more than 100 people. They came and surrounded our house with guns. It was scary. I just remember that they pushed me away and came into the house. I really wished my mother was there because I thought they were going to kill my father in front of me. After they took him away they monitored us for weeks. Our phone, our house, everything. The "friend" had planed everything from the beginning! That’s how the government got people. I really didn’t know what they were going to do with my dad. My brother and I asked if he did anything wrong and what they were going to do with him. They said that he was trying to catch the money and take it out of the country. I didn’t understand what he said but I knew he was lying. I couldn’t believe that people weren’t aloud to do what they wanted with their own money. After a few days we found out that they had taken him to a jail in a small city. They didn’t give him any food for days. He had a small stroke in the jail, and of course they didn’t care. If something wrong with you in the jail they never cared.

My mom was the only brave person in my family. She was searching for some law, some person, that would force them to release my father. The court day finally came for my father. They couldn’t find a reason for his arrest. All he ever did was work hard for his life, stay smart, and make a comfortable life for his family. My mom talked big and loud in that courtroom. I got scared they were going to take her to jail too. Believe it or not she made them release him. The whole thing took six months.

Whatever was happening to my family was happening to other people in different ways. It was getting bad. The whole country was getting bad. They told the people that they had to get coupons for groceries. People were asking, "What is coupons?" My family was afraid that we would end up as commoners. For one chicken, for one bag of sugar we had to wait in long lines at six o’clock and not get back until noon. People stooped coming out of their homes, or very rarely would. Nobody felt safe outside anymore.

My father decided to send me to my brother in Germany. I didn’t want to go. I was very attached to my parents and brother. In these kinds of situations you really appreciate your family more no matter how young or old you are. So we went to Tehran to get a visa from the German Embassy. We had to sleep for two nights in the street just waiting in line. They weren’t giving out to many visas. For like every 100 people, maybe one would receive a visa, if they were very lucky. I just remembered thinking how this was the exact opposite of the Shah’s time. In his time Iranians were welcome to go to any country they wanted. Iranians had money to spend, to shop. Iranians were very respectful all over the country. But not now.

I don’t know… I guess I was very lucky because the next day they approved my visa. Everyone was so happy for me. I cried to my parents that I didn’t want to leave without them. "Either we all leave, or I don’t leave." I said. Finally I was in the airport ready to go—alone. My tears, oh God, I couldn’t make them to stop. I had to leave my room, my stuff, my friends. It was so hard for me. I didn’t even take any luggage. I left with just my backpack and my passport. The revolution caused deep problems for every family. We wanted the Shah back but it was too late. Iran caused a revolution without any knowledge of whether we even needed to. Life was good and peaceful and we ruined it. We made the biggest mistake in our history and we paid the biggest price for it.