A Little History

My dad catching the ball as goalie on the Iranian National Soccer Team.

I have always enjoyed visiting my dad.  My parents have always been divorced... well as long as I can remember.  The one thing that I am sad about (regarding my parent's divorce) was the fact that I never was given the opportunity to really get to know my dad.  There is only one way to know a person and that is to spend time with them.  My dad has always been in the bay area and I have only been able to spend vacation time with him.  I wish I could go back in time and somehow spend more time with him... maybe a year with him in Northern California.  I would have been able to get to know him and learn about my Iranian heritage.  Every time that I visit I try to learn something new about my dad and the culture that we come from. 

During this visit I asked my dad one question that has been on my mind for awhile... is the surname "Pourheidari" a common name like Smith or Jones is in America?  The answer surprised me a bit.  Apparently some time ago, you were allowed to choose your own last name.  Often the last name was determined by the towns you visited or the occupation your family practiced.  My family's original last name was EXTREMELY long.  You might be thinking I'm exaggerating, but honestly our last night included the names of four towns and "heidari."  "Heidari" is the Farsi word for God.  My grandfather decided to change our extremely long name to Pourheidari which means the song of God.  Ha!  Apparently the Pourheidari's thought pretty highly of ourselves!  :)