Your Egypt

[Monica]

As we decided to start the interviews again..this time at random..i am picking names from all the active members...so SUE...here is your spot light...

Sue is a dear friend and is a talented writer...
here are my questions:
1- Whay is the first thing you will do the day your book is published?
2- Having been married to a Persian man what is it that you acquired from his culture?

YE people go ahead with your questions....

[Sara18]

Monica wrote: As we decided to start the interviews again..this time at random..i am picking names from all the active members...so SUE...here is your spot light...

Sue is a dear friend and is a talented writer...
here are my questions:
1- Whay is the first thing you will do the day your book is published?
2- Having been married to a Persian man what is it that you acquired from his culture?

YE people go ahead with your questions....

1. Call my husband, heave a HUGE sigh of relief, and plan a vacation.
2.What have I gained from his culture...........
A love of Persian food
A true sense of what family means
Patience
A tolerance for the Persian husbands "tongue".
That no matter how long you have been married to a Persian man, their family will always come first (hehehe)
A better understanding of Middle East Culture, Music and people
And last but not least, how deeply they love. :lol: :lol:

[Monica]

'I love the 'How deeply they love..'.
Tell us MORE... :wink:
How did he first court you???
Sara18 wrote: Monica wrote: As we decided to start the interviews again..this time at random..i am picking names from all the active members...so SUE...here is your spot light...

Sue is a dear friend and is a talented writer...
here are my questions:
1- Whay is the first thing you will do the day your book is published?
2- Having been married to a Persian man what is it that you acquired from his culture?

YE people go ahead with your questions....

1. Call my husband, heave a HUGE sigh of relief, and plan a vacation.
2.What have I gained from his culture...........
A love of Persian food
A true sense of what family means
Patience
A tolerance for the Persian husbands "tongue".
That no matter how long you have been married to a Persian man, their family will always come first (hehehe)
A better understanding of Middle East Culture, Music and people
And last but not least, how deeply they love. :lol: :lol:

[Sara18]

Moniquette,

We met on a blind date at the University that we both attended. He took me out for pizza (he was on a students budget), we talked for hours and after that we were inseparable. (No we didn't live together. We just saw a lot of each other and he called me almost everyday.) On the third date, we were talking about favorite vacation places and he aksed me, "Would you like to go to Hawaii for a vacation or a honeymoon?" You know what my answer was. That was my romantic proposal. Six months later we were married in a Catholic ceremony (very unusual for a Muslim) and we had our honeymoon in very romantic and beautiful Hawaii.

I didn't realize how deeply he loved me (He isn't the hearts and flowers kind of guy) until I had cancer surgery this past year. I had a very difficult time waking up afterwards and the nurses kept talking to me. They told me this very worried husband was out in the waiting room. I had to wake up. Then one of them looked at and said, "you are a very lucky woman to have a husband who loves you like he does."

I thought it was something coming from a woman who sees husbands and wives everyday. I also knew it when everyday he would get up and go to work before the sun came up (an hour drive each way) so that he could come home and drive me to my radiation treatments. This was five days a week for seven weeks. That's love!

Oh, we fight very well and we make up better! :roll: :roll:

[Monica]

WOW...that is Love indeed...
But why on earth do you fight then...
Or maybe I should ask do you fight on serious stuff or only on small issues and what about culturally related issues???
and since I am asking..who is Moniquette??? :roll:

[Luana]

Hi Sara,

Wow WOW and another WOW for your husband..he truly loves you and that is so wonderful to see. And i think so many men say so much but act so little. I am happy to see that you found one that is a true man in all aspect..so tell me exactly the spot where you met him, i gotta go there..LOL..i am jk.

What was the thing that he did or said that made you think something like "oh he is the one for me!"

Do you have kids?

In what religion will they be brought up?..

What was or is the most difficult thing about writing a book?

Luana

[Sara18]

Monica wrote: WOW...that is Love indeed...
But why on earth do you fight then...
Or maybe I should ask do you fight on serious stuff or only on small issues and what about culturally related issues???
and since I am asking..who is Moniquette??? :roll:


Okay Manga,

What did I get wrong? Weren't you going through your Moniquette phase during Ramadan or was I drinking then?

Why do we fight? We fight because we are both very strong individuals. I have had to fight for my independence. Remember, I am married to a Middle Eastern man and because of that, there are those times that he has done the me Tarzan you Jane thing and I am not very good with that. I believe that we are equal. (BTW-his Iranian mother was very much like me.) Ihave also always been the main support of the family. His job is finally paying more money.
Also, I am very sensitive. I should probably say very sensitive. My husband just says the first thing that comes to mind. He never thinks before he speaks. Some days, it doesn't bother me. Some days it does. My husband is a scientist and a very critical person by nature. That is why he is good at his job. He is a forensic toxicologist. (Works on dead bodies)
He can have a very sharp tongue. That hurts my feelings and that is what we fight about. Sometimes we fight about the kids. He just doesn't think before he opens his mouth and will say very mean things to the kids which I won't allow. You have to understand us. One minute we are fighting-yelling at each other and then a half hour later we will just look at each other and laugh or one of us will look at the other and say, "So, was it fun being alone?" The kids know we fight one minute, we love the next. You can't put two very strong personalities together and not get fights.
We don't fight much over cultural issues. We are both very flexible people.

Besides, making up after those fights sure is fun.
:roll: :roll: :wink:

We don't fight that often and they are usually small ones. We respect each other, we give each other space, but we also give each other time and emotional support. Plus if you tell a man he is still so sexy to you after twenty years, he'll keep sticking around.

Sue

[Sara18]

Luana wrote: Hi Sara,

Wow WOW and another WOW for your husband..he truly loves you and that is so wonderful to see. And i think so many men say so much but act so little. I am happy to see that you found one that is a true man in all aspect..so tell me exactly the spot where you met him, i gotta go there..LOL..i am jk.

What was the thing that he did or said that made you think something like "oh he is the one for me!"

Do you have kids?

In what religion will they be brought up?..

What was or is the most difficult thing about writing a book?

Luana


Hi Luana,

We met at the Unversity that we both attended. I had graduated and was visiting friends. He had just finished his Masters and was taking computer courses. It was a blind date set up by friends.

The thing that made me know he was the one---He was confident. He knew what he wanted out of life. He wasn't afraid of relationships. He was ready for marriage and so was I. We both just knew that we were the one. It was just a feeling. I can't describe it. When you know that you have met the right one, you just know. I have to tell you that he was not a man that I would have ordinarily dated. He was though the man that I would marry.

We have two children. Our son just turned seventeen yesterday. We have an eighteen year old daughter who until she was thirteen, was normal in every way. At thirteen, her eeyssight began to weaken and her walking became affected. It took us until she was fifteen to know that she has a progressive genetic disorder. Today, she is blind and in a wheelchair. We have also found out that my husband is affected with the same disease, but in a much milder form.

Life has many challenges.

As far as writing goes, my biggest challenge is finding the time to write. I have to write around everyone else's schedule. I am a full time caretaker so my time is not my own. I write late at night and very early int he morning when my time is my own. Once I found the story that I wanted to write, finding the words have never been a problem. My husband always thought it was a joke until a publisher expressed interest. Now, he is on me to get the re-writes done.

My best advice is know what you want in a partner and don't settle for less. Also, know that marriage is something that you have to go into with your eyes open and realize that it is about compromise and committment. There is no perfect partner. We are all human.

Sue :D :D

[Luana]

Thanks Sue :D

[Sara18]

Luana,

I forgot to tell you also that we were married in a Catholic Church and both of our children are baptised Catholic. That is very unusual when the father is Moslem.

Sue

[Monica]

Sue tell us more about that!
Thanks..
Sara18 wrote: Luana,

I forgot to tell you also that we were married in a Catholic Church and both of our children are baptised Catholic. That is very unusual when the father is Moslem.

Sue

[Sara18]

Monica wrote: Sue tell us more about that!
Thanks..
Sara18 wrote: Luana,

I forgot to tell you also that we were married in a Catholic Church and both of our children are baptised Catholic. That is very unusual when the father is Moslem.

Sue

Manga,

My husband is not very religious. he beleives in God and is a Godly man, just doesn't like organized religion. He grew up in a very religious family and said it turned him off. Anyway, when we were deciding to get married, he asked if I just wanted to go to the courthouse. I said No. I had waited all my life for this day and I wanted a church wedding. He said it had to be short and he wouldn't kneel. We had a wonderful priest who was a product of an interrfaith family. Hossein did not have to sign anything. I had to say that I would consider raising any children Catholic. We had the short ceremony. It was ninety-degrees outside, so when it came time to kneel, he did so without a problem. Since I was the only one practicing at the time, the children were baptized Catholic. He has even gone to church with us on some occasions. The children have also been exposed to Islam. We are both very tolerant of each other's religions. If we lived in Iran, I know that our children would be raised Muslim.

BTW- At our wedding, all of the Muslim relatives thanked us for having a religious ceremony. It has worked for us. In the last couple of years, I have started learning about Islam, not because of him, but because I am interested.

Sue :lol:

[Monica]

Sue..your story is unusual indeed.. but one of tolerance and love!
About Islam what made you interested?? Sara18 wrote: Monica wrote: Sue tell us more about that!
Thanks..
Sara18 wrote: Luana,

I forgot to tell you also that we were married in a Catholic Church and both of our children are baptised Catholic. That is very unusual when the father is Moslem.

Sue

Manga,

My husband is not very religious. he beleives in God and is a Godly man, just doesn't like organized religion. He grew up in a very religious family and said it turned him off. Anyway, when we were deciding to get married, he asked if I just wanted to go to the courthouse. I said No. I had waited all my life for this day and I wanted a church wedding. He said it had to be short and he wouldn't kneel. We had a wonderful priest who was a product of an interrfaith family. Hossein did not have to sign anything. I had to say that I would consider raising any children Catholic. We had the short ceremony. It was ninety-degrees outside, so when it came time to kneel, he did so without a problem. Since I was the only one practicing at the time, the children were baptized Catholic. He has even gone to church with us on some occasions. The children have also been exposed to Islam. We are both very tolerant of each other's religions. If we lived in Iran, I know that our children would be raised Muslim.

BTW- At our wedding, all of the Muslim relatives thanked us for having a religious ceremony. It has worked for us. In the last couple of years, I have started learning about Islam, not because of him, but because I am interested.

Sue :lol:

[Sara18]

I had to think about this one, Monica.

First what interests me is that I see Islam more of a relgion for all people. The Catholic Church, especially in the US is about the rich. That has turned me off for some time now. Also, Islam addresses the issues of marriage better than Catholicism. Not only do they counsel you on what you should do as a married couple, but Islam gets down to the nuts and the bolts of the issues. In the Roman Catholic Church, priest can't marry. I have a hard time with men that have never been married telling me what I can and can't do. ie birth control.

Just some thoughts for right now.

Sue

[Claire]

Sue

What is the situation with the book?