Lucretia: In March of 1967 the FAA International Affairs called and told Mike he had been selected for a position in Teheran, Iran. They knew about him because of his superior work done in Pakistan 4 months earlier and were offering him another challenge. This time he could bring his family along for the assignment. We were both 27 years old and wanted to make something of our lives.We passed the standard FBI investigation and made plans to leave by mid-April.
Our friends and family back in Pennsylvania thought we were crazy. Our parents were very upset about our decision to leave for a foreign country with four small children.Our friends however didn’t act in a negative way; they understood and were happy for us. We left New York City on a Pan Am 707 with stops in London, Italy, and Istanbul before landing in Teheran. A large group of people from the International FAA met us at the airport and gave us a warm welcome. We had the feeling this was going to be a beautiful experience.We stayed two months in a hotel in Teheran, and found that the Iranian people genuinely loved Americans. They couldn’t do enough for us and our 4 little blond-headed girls. The hotel staff was so sad the day we left for our new home in the north of Teheran.
Interesting note: our departure for Teheran was delayed for two weeks because I refused to take innoculations. As a nurse, I was concerned the shots could be harmful to our unborn child — I was three months pregnant at that point. Mike had been scheduled to be on an earlier flight, but it was a real blessing that he missed it. The plane he was supposed to board crashed. It was a terrible accident. We felt God was surely watching over us and our young family as we set off for our new life abroad.
zehbel 