Barbara Kackley:  

In 1964, at the age of 19, I married Ehssan Nayebi who worked with me teaching english at the Iran-America Society in Tehran. He had earned a medical degree in San Francisco, was 29 and totally swept me off my feet. I was 21 when my first son was born. My parents were working in Iran in 1964 so we had a great opportunity to get to know his family and had a big, loud wedding at my parents' house. I got to be the romantic princess! Tehran in the 60's was very exciting and cosmopolitan. I learned to speak farsi fluently, wore mini-skirts, danced my feet off in fancy discos and had great jobs. From 1968 to 1969, we lived in Madrid, Spain. My ex-husband was studying medicine at the University of Madrid and I studied spanish literature. Bob, our oldest, spoke spanish as his first language and I also still speak it fluently. Johnny, our youngest, was born in 1969 and we returned to Iran by car driving through Europe, Turkey and down into Iran. It was the trip of a lifetime and I am so glad I had that opportunity. Bob, 44, and Johnny, 41, were born in the U.S. but spent most of their early childhood in Tehran and have warm memories of our life there. We had it very good! I was able to travel all over the country and even spent time with friends in Afghanistan in 1975. I am still close with Bob and Johnny's Iranian aunt and cousins. In 1973, my ex-husband had a sense that a revolution was brewing in Iran. We came back to the States in Fall of '73 and settled in a small town near Pomona, CA. He set up a medical practice and I returned to Cal Poly, Pomona to finish my college degree. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't survive the move and by 1975, we were divorced and sharing custody of two little boys. I met John in 1977 -- he was my professor at Cal Poly and I asked him out! (I had gotten over being shy.) We have been married since 1978. He had travelled all over the US as well as Europe, had lots of adventures and had never been married. John and I stayed in the organizational development field all these years hoping to make a difference in the way people are treated in large corporations. Ahhhh -- the illusions of youth. Our boys have also travelled all over the world. At one point, Johnny, the youngest wasn't sure if he was American, Iranian or Italian (...Expand for more