Teimour Ebrahimi’s Experiences in a Revolution

  At age 70, Teimour Ebrahimi is enjoying his life as a retired senior citizen in the United States. He was born in Tehran, Iran. Teimour worked as a sort of dentist, he made teeth for people. Today he enjoys his life with his wife and family. He usually goes to the community parks and plays backgammon as a hobby. He recently had his youngest daughter have twins, he says all the work put into life is well worth it for this moment.

I was 48 years old when the revolution started. It took seven to eight months until it was over, during those months a lot of bad things were going on. People were putting banks on fire, stores on fire, and were raiding police stations. They wanted to overthrow the king and have a democracy. The people who were fighting and raiding did not like the king, I didn’t really care that much life was good during the kings time. People thought of him as a dictator. We found out the revolution was occurring from our friends from church. When we found out it was starting we got scared and tried to stay away from it as much as we could.

I have two sons and two daughters both of them in great shape. My son Edik was in the army, and during the revolution people would fight the army. One day Edik did not return home for three days. We got scared something happened to him. But on the fourth day he returned safe. It hurts me that the revolution occurred because it separated me from my family and my homeland. When all of this started to happen  the outcome wasn’t so great. The price of things were growing and women had to wear masks over their faces.

If it were up to me I would have the king stay, because the revolution was an unnecessary one. I had everything I needed, the king never bothered us. The people although did not like the king they thought of him as a dictator and we did not want to risk our lives by getting involved. So we stayed away from the subject as much as possible.

During the revolution I was not allowed to listen to music and drink alcohol. For example if my friends and I went out and we had a bottle of alcohol, the soldiers would take it from us and empty it on the street. In the end I did not like the outcome of the revolution that much. It caused us a lot of trouble and life would have been easier without it. On a scale from one through ten I would give the revolution outcome a two. The reason I came to the united states was because of the revolution and the safety of my family. One time while in the car my daughter was listening to music that did not support Islam, a police man caught us and destroyed the tape. My daughter was sad for a couple days but she soon got over it.

  In Iran I would go to work in the morning and then come home and stay with my family. My wife was a stay at home mom, she would cook and take care of the children. When we first got to United States it was pretty hard adapting but we got used to it. When we just arrived I would live with my children at their house. I usually switched living with each of my children every 2 years. By that time I was already a grandfather. My son Robik had a business set up and I joined him in making teeth. I don’t get to see my brothers and sisters anymore. It’s a shame. I usually call them every two years but other then that nothing. Although I have gone once with my wife back to Iran. It wasn’t so great the living conditions were good but not as good as before. I got to see my family though which was great. I had been separated from them for a very long time. The life I live now is a good one everything is peaceful now, the revolution however did hurt me and scar my life. I do not see my family members and the only people I have now is my wife and kids. I am grateful to even have them, I love my kids and I wish them a happy life. My life is at peace now.

Interviewed by Narek Shahmoradian