After Losing All, Couple Finds Riches Remain
If Alaedin Mesbah had lingered 15 days longer in Iran back in 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini’s followers might have killed him.
Ali was one of the Shah of Iran’s financial officers. He ranked high enough to pose for photos with the Shah, and had money to burn and a fistful of college degrees. His wife, Jaleh, traveled worldwide to Ba’hai faith conferences.
Now Ali is a Coeur d’Alene repairman, struggling to make ends meet in his retirement. Jaleh is a seamstress.
“I am always seeing God’s finger in my life,” Ali says, peering over bifocals perched on the end of his nose. “I never thought I could start life from absolutely zero. With God’s help, I did.”
Ali left Tehran with Jaleh and their younger son to visit Jaleh’s mother in Luxembourg. Their older son was in college in Wisconsin.
While the Mesbahs were gone, the Ayatollah Khomeini took control of Iran. Friends telephoned Ali, warning him not to return.
“I lost my job, my honor, my country, everything,” he says, shaking his head.
Two years later, he landed with his family in Coeur d’Alene, where his brother-in-law lived. Ali’s degrees in law, finance and business meant nothing in the United States where all the rules were different.
He supported his family with odd jobs, but found work scarce. Iran under Khomeini hated Americans and Ali found the feeling was mutual.
He improved his English at North Idaho College, earned his associate’s degree in machine shop, then took a computer class. He learned so much so quickly that NIC hired him to help other students and repair computers.
Ali, who’s 70, retired Jan. 1 from NIC and is writing a book about his life. His small fix-it business in his home helps stretch his meager retirement benefits.
“I can fix anything,” he says with a grin.
Ali’s material riches are a distant memory now. His world travel days are over. But he is content.
“We’re no different now than when we were rich,” he says, holding his empty hands palm up in front of him. “Money goes. What you have in your heart is what really counts.”
Good cents
Lawyers are the targets of a lot of jokes, but they do honorable things occasionally that deserve mention. How can you pick on the 21 Kootenai County lawyers who raised $1,300 during the holidays to help ICARE, the Idaho Child Abuse Response program in Coeur d’Alene?
ICARE trains volunteers to befriend potentially abusive parents and help them find ways other than violence to vent frustration.
Looking for a good-hearted lawyer? Just ask ICARE.
Hail the heifer
Middle school and high school kids probably aren’t in the mood for extra tests right now, considering semester finals are just around the corner.
But enough right answers on a test taken at home could win some lucky student a purebred registered heifer of breeding age. That’s a cow that hasn’t had a calf yet, for you city folk.
The Idaho Cattle Association started its Heifer of the Year Contest to teach kids about the cattle industry. A cow in the back yard is a great way to learn …
To take this year’s test, call the cattle association at 343-1615. Applications are due Feb. 2. Tests are due March 1. The contest also awards winners scholarships and livestock handling equipment.
Winter blues
Some people are calling this year’s unsnowy winter North Idaho’s worst. Others are remembering 1992, when cities ran out of places to stack snow, or 1979 when it stayed cold so long that Lake Coeur d’Alene froze.
What’s the worst North Idaho winter you remember? Chatter out the details to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo