I had the incredible blessing of being able to attend the wedding of Aaron and Mahshad.  Aaron is someone I have known since “before he was born.”  I first met his family when I was seventeen and they moved to my hometown in New Hampshire.  He was not yet born, but I babysat their three other children, approximately: 10, 6, and 4.  We were all a part of our Baha’i community, the religion of my upbringing, and the religion I am still follow.  I later went to college in Ohio, and they moved to Alaska. They invited me to stay with them in 1995 for the summer to volunteer in the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.  I lived with them for three months, and that is when Aaron was about a year and a half.  I could tell some wonderfully embarrassing but adorable stories and nicknames, but I will spare him here.  (-;  I missed them after that summer and wanted to move to Alaska. My family thought I was crazy for considering that.

To my joy, though, they later moved to Michigan, and I spend Thanksgivings with them, as it was only a 5 hour drive.  After college, I moved to Oregon, and a couple years later, they also moved to Oregon.  They have family out here. My life crisscrossed with theirs, like family.  Serendipitously.  So, attending his wedding was with no doubt special to me.  Here are some highlights of their Baha’i- American-Persian wedding.