September 24, 1977

Dear Mom and Dad,

Just let me thank you for having my check delivered to the tavern-it was very sweet and thoughtful and also for your letter which arrived today. I've been thinking for several days­ gotta write but haven't because you'd probably be alarmed by such a jumbled letter although things have gone smoothly by Tehran standards.

J and J have been super-their biggest battle has been fatigue-time change anticipation, etc. When we left for London John's eyes were so dilated he looked like a junkie. They ate dinner and went right to sleep and then slept most of the next day in London-Peter managed to get thru a full day of meetings starting almost as soon as we arrived at the hotel. The next day I signed the children+ myself up for a ½ day tour geared to what they would most likely be interested in-Janet loved the buildings and crown jewels-of course. John had to have a bus ride which he liked better than anything. When Peter wasn't working we did the zoo and museums and best of all we got out to see Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral which really impressed Janet. I think, in spite of time out for naps, we managed to cover a lot ground.

The children loved the samovar on Iran Air and drank an impressive amount of tea­ Mehr-Abad airport was a zoo since 5 flights got in at once and I sat for hours with J and J on my lap sleeping while Peter collected all 12 suitcases. Janet is slowly getting used to Tehran crowds but walking out of the terminal nearly did her in as we pushed our way thru a solid wall of people who must have looked pretty strange to her. That's about the only time she's been on the verge of hysteria. About a hundred hands pocked out of the crowd to pat the top of John's head-in fact he's a sensation no matter where we go. They were so keyed up that they didn't get to sleep until almost three in the morning and from here on in I have no idea whether I' 11 have events in the proper order.

The next day we looked at a possible school for the children while Janet threw up all over me, the car and everywhere-I think it was mainly the altitude, pollution, start and stop traffic.

Whatever-she got over it quickly and was perfectly all right when we went out to dinner and gobbled up a huge plate of Iranian rice-again a huge shock for Janet whose eyes were like saucers and then went to the Nelsons for dinner and that was great for the kids. They played hard with Scott and Cade who are J & J's age and it was good to see them just be children again. They really haven't had much of that at all lately and it was good for them to know some normal activities do go on. The next morning we were up and at it again and off for a picnic in the mountains with four other families who produced more children so the last few days have been good ones for the children-in fact we've spent very little time at the hotel.

The Park Hotel used to be Tehran's one luxury hotel. It's very Persian-large almost overwise rooms-very Spartan with the exception of Persian rugs-our room has four lovely ones. We have reservations at the Tehran Hilton starting the 6th of Oct. which should be better as far as transportation is concerned and meals for the children. They don't serve dinner here until 7:30 which is too late and a lot of restaurants won't allow children so feeding them is a real problem. I don't think they'll have a decent meal until we move into our house. They did have a lot of good fruit on the picnic and some other places-I suppose dealing with their needs is about the biggest frustration. School is anything but all set-I have made hundreds of phone calls talked to a number of people I'm sure we will meet again and enjoy-I have made some

headway but nothing is settled. Janet and John spent the morning in Hekmat School which is very nice-not thrilling-they can get in there but it is so far away from where we will be living that their commute would be over an hour each day. Janet can get into Iranzamine which is closer but John is too young and there is one other possibility and I have to make introductory calls tomorrow. J and J were glad for one morning in school anyway-things aren't going wrong-it's just the usual Iranian hassle.

Janet made a very good friend on the picnic and we all went over there this evening (to talk schools) and they had a super time. We leave Wed. afternoon for a three-day trip down the desert road which the same four families-quite a trek to see the oldest mosque in the country-I guess that will be another letter. Our picnic was fun-we played Frisbee which attracted a number of villagers who never had seen one before and crept closer and closer until they were finally in the game. They loved it and were kind of surprised when they found they couldn't do it too well. The mountains in this place were spectacular-sheer cliffs but don't ask me exactly where it was. We did pass an incredibly oppressive looking prison camp. J and J saw enough donkeys to last them for a while. John gets a bang out of seeing a whole family of six or seven on a motorcycle on the streets of Tehran.

You'll have to let me know what life is like in Greenwich every day-I'm sure very nice!

Also what Alice Bean decides to do--she's either very stupid or very horny.

Also if you'd please pass this letter along to Fred because I know I'll never get around to rewriting all this.

Miss you both very very much and all four of us send lots of love!

Carol

September 28, 1977

Dear Marjorie and Arne,

An overdue letter! After we saw you our pace was pretty wild-in fact Peter was still touching up trim on the house the morning of our departure to London!

We had a wonderful visit with you and it certainly meant a lot to the children. Every time John sees someone with a pipe he says he's just like Bessepapa. Our dinner, our day at the lake and all the lovely times in between were super.

We are indeed in Tehran and have had a mind-boggling schedule ever since we got here. The initial pollution, altitude and stop and start traffic had Janet pretty sick the first day we were here but now both children have adjusted pretty well-naturally Janet has a well of very difficult questions about the people, their general conditions and customs etc. The most difficult time was our actual arrival-along with four or five other flights it took hours to collect the baggage and the terminal was a sea of people-a solid wall really and J and J were near hysteria as we pushed our way thru. John's hair is a sensation and everyone was reaching out to pat the top of his head. Having him along does guarantee better service!

Most of the time I've been working on the school situation which is very frustrating and was anything but settled. In fact won't even go into that now except we've been all over the place and I've had a real introduction to the Tehran telephone system-we are making headway.

We've also been to the Bazaar-incredible-it twists and turns with the most amazing stuff and people you ever saw. I did manage to find out our friend David Munro (Chem. Bank) a potato peeler-something he's been looking for for over a year. We also went on a fun family picnic in the mountains which was truly spectacular. J and J have seen their fill of donkeys-we brought a Frisbee to the delight of the villagers who crept in closer and closer until they were finally in the game. It was a great day for J and J because there were loads of children to play with and trying to behave in a hotel day after day is a bit of a drag. They were happy, dirty and tired when we got back.

The other day we finally got over to see the house which was a special thrill for Janet-in fact both children loved it. It looks so much better with the horrible red velvet curtains down and everything painted white and are now very anxious to get in.

Managed to get the children over to Shahanshahi Park which is beautiful and extensive­ once again to just run their legs off. There's an aviary, small lake and playground-all fun for them. They are time consuming these days.

Peter has gone on a fair amount of calls and lunches-he seems happy but very tired. There's so much to absorb in the beginning I think. Everywhere you go people are offering advice-helpful, but a weary task to sort it all out. Since the office here is just barely started there is a lot to do.

London was a nice break-although Peter had calls to make almost immediately after we arrived at our hotel and was exhausted as were the children from an all-night flight plus time change. We did tour around London and saw quite a bit and then as a special treat to ourselves went out to see Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral-something we've always wanted to do.

We also found some lovely restaurants and so we had a very pleasant stay. Getting out of London wasn't too bad-only a three-hour delay-John made the most of it at the matchbox car counter.

Peter's Farsi is sounding better and better and I know he's been thankful to have it. My lessons start at the beginning of Oct-I really need to get the accent right as it is searingly easy to wish someone's male member a happy good morning. Of course they love that.

Actually the people here are much warmer and friendlier than the British and in some ways it was nice to leave there and come to Tehran. At times the people are frustrating-I took J and J to the Pasteau Institute for their second cholera shot and tried to explain that they had already had the first. They got their shot and a man stamped their health record "Full dose." Then I tried to explain that the full dose had been unnecessary so he smiled and scratched out the "Full dose" and we were on our way. At least they seem none the worse.

Must run - we have a busy afternoon!

Much love,

Carol, Peter, Janet & John

October 3, 1977

Dear Mom and Dad,

Just thought you might like to know Janet is on her second day of school. She's very happy about it-getting her there this week from the Park Hotel is quite a chore-we drop Peter off at his office in the a.m. and from there crawl to the other end of Tehran! She's at Ashraf Pahlevi-probably one of the best here. The students are predominately Iranian-all from families where both parents speak English-I'm sure one of the reasons she got in is because she's American and also because Ann Nelson introduced me to Parri Taahi-Zadeh who is charge of protocol for the Minister of court. Parri took me over one afternoon to meet Mr. Fidge, the headmaster, which was an incredible help-her daughter Parrisol is seven and goes to Ashraf Pahlevi-then for form's sake, I suppose, we had to wait for almost a week and finally Janet was in. they wear heavy jumpers with pleated shirts and yellow blouses which we ran out and got (goodbye school clothes I shopped so carefully for-but at least I won't have to bother next year!}-and fortunately the uniform is very attractive and J.C. looks awfully cute in it. We'll take a picture of her and send it along soon. She likes it and this morning when I dropped her off she quickly spotted two new friends and the three of them walked off to class holding hands.

John's fate is still up in the air-they have a nursery school at Ashraf Pahlevi but they are not certain they have a place for him-I should find out later this week-if not there are other possibilities but it would simplify things if they could go to the same school. Ultimately this is a good deal because the school is very near where we will be living and they have a bus service.

We've been over to the house and it looks great-better than before. Now that the velvet curtains and horrendous light fixtures down and all the walls a bright white. The children loved it and Janet especially is so excited she can hardly stand it. She loves her room and has planned where everything will go. Janet has really done a very good job adjusting-John too but it's harder for him. His tummy gets upset easily and it's hard to control what he eats when you can't cook and there is almost nowhere you can go to feed him-them at a reasonable hour. Quite often we get Arshak to take us up to the Hilton because their cafe is open 24 hrs. but it is a long trek from here. To complicate matters, John fell in the bathtub in London and knocked his front tooth loose and I want to keep him on foods he doesn't have to chew. The tooth has firmed up quite a bit but has discolored. I'm still trying to find a dentist-everyone agrees there are some good ones here but no one knows who they are. In the meantime he's pretty cheerful-he knows I'm with him and know he's trying-we go to parks a lot which he loves-especially the big cement mazes so many of them have for children-and we get them both together with other children each weekend. They've made a number of friends-and they have two birthday parties to go to this week. After we dropped Janet off at school we went to a small bazaar to shop for presents this a.m. It's so colorful and so much to look at that he was quite content there.

We never did go on our desert trip because the opportunity to see Ashraf Pahlevi came up the day we were supposed to leave-I wanted so desperately to get the school situation settled and know there will be many chances to go on trips-we were also all ready to relax a little. We did get together with an American family here on a Fulbright scholarship who have a girl and boy J and J's age and had a lovely time with them.

Soon I hope to get some cleaning supplies and go over to the house and get things set up-it's not too bad but it does need a good scrubbing-unfortunately Arshak will not hear of this-that's work for a badji-and my Farsi is not good enough to tell him that I have been a badji all my life-and secondly it will be easier when John starts school. Arshak hovers over me-he is constantly worried that I will get lose to someone will take advantage of me-he was horrified the first time I want to take the children to the park by myself although they are perfectly safe-it's just that the people before us never did these things. Every time I buy something-which has been very little-he unwraps my package to admire and find out how much I paid etc. It's hard to get used to but there's no question he's devoted and he adores the children.

Peter has been very busy but I can tell he's getting a feel for the job. Amazingly enough we met another bank rep. working in the same building who left two or three weeks before we did-and they are also renting their home in Silvermine. Small world. We haven't met his wife and children yet.

Better go and order some lunch-I've been writing while John naps.

Much love, Carol

November 5, 1977

Dear Mom and Dad,

I haven't had two minutes to put together but I will try to catch up with you this evening.

We were somewhere in the middle of moving into our house on Dad's birthday-and if Peter hadn't been in Turkey and I hadn't had the flu-and if the plumbing and the stove been in working order etc. etc. I probably would have gotten a letter off. Dad, thought about you all day though.

The children are so much happier now and we have more or less established a routine­ hung a few pictures and had friends over for dinner last night so this marble mound is beginning to feel more like home. Our furniture has actually been in Tehran for some time but we had people here from NY and the day after everything was actually brought to the house Peter left for Turkey for a week. In the meantime Amir (chem. tea boy) and I spent any spare time we had cleaning it (I won't describe the former condition of this house) and stayed at the Hilton with J and J till we could get down though the I st five layers of gunk-it was still pretty awful when I checked out. With offspring and 12 suitcases but I figured Peter would rather come home to this than the Hilton. Amir has since worked miracles-he has scrubbed through layers of dirt and crud in the kitchen and bathrooms such as I have never seen before and could never do myself. It took the two of us 2 ½ days on the kitchen alone.

In between times I am going to Farsi class three mornings a week which is invaluable but time consuming and takes a lot of preparation. I will say I used every word I learn within minutes after I walk out of class. The people I'm with most of the day don't speak English at all-our driver, Amir, the gardener-shop keepers-I'd say my Farsi has reached survival level anyway but there's still so much to learn. Peter does very well and John was sitting at the kitchen table today drawing saying "Xube, Xube" which means "it's good"-he understands much more than he will admit. He is going to a little Iranian nursery school called Mehr Madar (Mother love) and has finally settled down and I think he really does enjoy it thoroughly. He's beginning to make friends-the language barrier was very difficult at first-he came home with a lot of lumps and bumps because it was impossible to settle disputes by talking and hitting, scratching etc. were the only means of communication. He seems to have worked this out now.

Janet is more English than the Queen Mother-her new accent is enough to make you throw up----it's a good school there and she's extremely happy, made lots of friends-all nationalities and has gone on quite a round of birthday parties.

We've met a lot of people we enjoy-weekends tend to fly by a little too quickly-in fact the days do anyway. 1 went to an area American wives club coffee and met a number of people who live in our neighborhood you would probably not meet otherwise because of the walls.

Have discovered a marvelous local pork shop which also seems to be a meeting place­ particularly German housewives with useful information. It takes a while to get used to the shopping-going to five stores to find sugar-three more to find eggs and then bringing your hard-earned goodies home and disinfecting it all-but we haven't gotten sick either. For a while there was a lot of cholera in Tehran-there was one memorable hour in traffic with a man in a pickup truck in front of us who definitely had it. The weather is cool and rainy so I suspect the worst is over.

the 6th a.m.

Just got Peter and the children off so thought I'd work on my letter-I wound up spending the rest of the evening on the phone with Ann Nelson discussing the merits of having a live-in badji-I have found one or having Amir and his family. He at least is a known quantity and I like him-he will take care of our house for the privilege of living here-we at least have a room with heat and a bath. At the moment the bank pays for his public bath once a week-I will not ever get used to how poor these people are. The badji will cost a lot more but would be available more-but I'm not sure I want someone hovering around me all day either. Well, those are just a few of the pros and cons. Life here is a little on the crazy side anyway! At the same time I have Arshak's son George driving me around till we can get a car and while he is very pleasant, he is also very stupid and does not know Tehran at all. This is a mixed blessing so I've been forced to learn the main routes quickly. We went back and forth to our house several dozen times before he could finally find it on his own. Arshak (Chem. driver) is totally devoted-he loves to tinker around the house and has fixed all sorts of things it would take months to get someone else to come and do-he also knows where to find just about anything you might need. Out of pure love for us he just has his car reupholstered and Peter is now riding around in what you could only describe as a pimp mobile as the interior is now a piercing cerise velvet. There goes his banker image. When Arshak proudly showed it to us I could only say "Heli Gashange"--or very beautiful (to Persians only)-to Westerners the phrase has a totally different meaning!

The children had a good Halloween. While out interviewing at schools I met a remarkable lady (Amer.) whose husband-(when I met her) had died the previous weekend which I did not know at the time. She really has no family left in the U.S.-she has his teenage son plus a four-year-old daughter of her own-has decided to stay in Tehran, speaks beautiful Farsi and works for a T.V. station. She's been a source of inspiration to say the least. She (Helen Picard) had the Halloween party-Peter volunteered-and was a marvelous monster-all the mothers brought dinner and it was a huge success. J. and J. had a ball. It looks like Thanksgiving will be at our house-I have more room but Ann Nelson has a bigger oven-we are still hashing the pros and cons of that one back and forth. My oven really is obnoxious but the layout here is great.

On a more serious vein, Peter received a summons from Nicholas Orban (the bicyclist who ran into the Barracuda) accusing Peter of disregarding traffic signals-going at excessive speed and suing us for $300,000. This is a bit frustrating to handle halfway around the world and we were wondering if you could help us get hold of a good lawyer. The police report on this matter has Orban at fault and there are witnesses to prove it but on the other hand stranger things have happened in the course of American justice. Peter thinks it's a nuisance suit and he's probably right but nevertheless we'd like to have good legal advice besides the insurance company handling it. Sorry to sock you with this-in my opinion being sued twice in one year is a bit much. Peter is angry-we are not what you'd call unduly upset-we are too far away and the immediate problems of living here keep us busy enough as it is, we don't know how it will turn out so there's no point in getting an ulcer over it. This year has been strange because even if you mind your own business-people can sue you for all sorts of things you have no control over-that's the hardest to absorb.

Well, have breakfast dishes to do and beds to make-will try to not let so much time go by before the next letter. These last weeks have been crazy! Miss you-sometimes get a little homesick but I know I would also miss this place too. Much love to you all-please pass this on to Fred.

OOO's n XXX's

Carol

November, 1977

Dear Jack and Nancy,

Since you were kind enough to give us this writing paper the least we could do would be to write to you. Things have been so hectic here and the time has gone so fast that there has been little time to write to anyone. We miss the good times we had together and the two of you (plus Shandy of course). Trust all is going well with you.

It's hard to know where to begin since so much has happened since we last saw you. We stopped in London on the way out for five days. A welcome pause and chance to get adjusted to the time difference (6 hours vis-a-vis NY US-8½ over here, now 8 hours with daylight savings time over). Found some good restaurants and Carol and the children went sightseeing while I made calls on Iranian banks in London. Also went to Stonehenge and then to Salisbury Cathedral the Sunday we were there.

We lived at the Hilton Hotel when we first got here for a little over a month. Not a lot of fun with two children. Finally moved into the house on October 25, about a week after the furniture was delivered. I was gone for IO days to Turkey after the furniture arrived so Carol and the children stayed on at the Hilton before moving to the house. I was in Ankara for two days and spent the rest of the time in Istanbul. It's a beautiful city and I have promised to take Carol back in the spring.

We are more or less settled into the house/although the wide stretches of marble floor definitely cry out for Persian carpets). At times this place resembles a Mack Sennett comedy with people going in and out of the house.

We have a family living in the basement. The man takes care of the house after work and on Thursday (Persian equivalent of Saturday since we have Thursday and Friday off.) So they wander in and out plus they have a 2½-year-old boy whom Janet and John play with, plus the driver who wanders in and out having lunch or tea with us occasionally. The gardener often shows up unannounced plus assorted repairmen, garbage men, fuel oil trucks etc. And 99% of this conducted in Persian. You have to see it to believe it sometimes. It's easy to see how there will be difficulties relating to people back in the U.S. when we return. The context in which we live now compared with what it was is so different that people won't understand some of the things that are considered normal here.

The driving is totally beyond belief and has to be experienced to be believed. We are in the process of buying a car so we can travel around the country. We are looking forward to the freedom but not looking forward to having to face the absolute chaos of Tehran traffic. So far we have relied on our driver to do most of our driving.

Shopping here is a daily task and has a certain element of potluck to it as things are not always available. So when you do find something you need (like sugar, eggs, salt etc.) you tend to stock up. Plus the fruits and vegetables are in what could charitably be called farm fresh condition (i.e. with mud still attached so they must be washed and soaked in disinfectant or a germicide. So must eggs.) Prepared foods are available but expensive. A can of coffee (1lb) cost $10, a box of cereal $1 to $1.50 and so on. So Carol has learned to blend local items such as bread, rice and vegetable with standard U.S. food to make a good blend.

The people we have met are really great and you quickly develop a sense of community here that we have never achieved in the States. You trade children, information on where you can get good meat or items in short supply as well as reassurance and support.

Time here goes by so quickly. When we left our house it was the middle of summer and now we are preparing for Thanksgiving (30 to 40 people at our place). There never seems like enough time to do everything you want to do and the day no sooner begins than it ends.

The children are adjusting well after a difficult transition in hotels. They are both in school, at opposite ends of town. Janet goes by bus while John goes with me in the morning and I drop him off on the way to work. The commute varies but generally is 30 to 40 minutes counting the time it take to drop John off. Plus I don't have to drive which is nice. I generally get home by 4:30 or 5 (a real change from 7:30/8:00 in Norwalk) and we have dinner together as a family. The work is challenging and I just don't feel like I have enough time in a day to do everything that I want to get done. The thing that really makes it worthwhile though is that it is my own operation and I can run it pretty much the way I want (within limits of course but being out here I am on my own to a large extent). Carol hasn't had time to sit down and write so I will finish up and mail the letter to you otherwise it will get delayed for a while. Let us hear from you-hope everything is going well.

Pete/Carol/Janet/John

November 1977

Dear Claire and Drew,

It has been a long time since I wrote a letter so I don't quite know where to begin. I just looked for Dad and Marjorie's last letter and discovered it was over a month ago and I have not written since. The time has just gone by so unbelievably fast.

We are in our house. We or I should say Carol moved in Oct 25. I was here for the actual delivery of the furniture at the house but had to leave the next day for a ten-day trip to Turkey. Carol was able to stay at the Hilton until the day before I got back but still had to come and work at the house. Things complicated by the children picking up some sort of bug which Carol then got.

Meanwhile yours truly was galivanting about Turkey. I went to Ankara for two days of meetings with bankers and government officials. We have a fairly large exposure in Turkey and the purpose of the trip was largely fact finding and pushing for repayment of loans. Not much luck on the latter. But I did have a good time. There is not much in Ankara. I went to see Ataturk's tomb. (Turkey's equivalent of G.W.) and the Archaeological museum which has a lot of prehistoric items particularly Stone Age and Hittite relics. Some of the latter looked as if they were made this century. The designs were so beautiful and in some cases so simple and the lines so clean that they looked very modern. They also have a Roman temple in Ankara which was dedicated by Constantine. Ankara was apparently on the major trade route and so was of interest to the Romans. South of Ankara are major Hittite archeological sites as well as Neolithic garden culture excavation. Istanbul was really beautiful. It is surrounded by water, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus and the Golden Hom. The weather was beautiful for the entire time we were there and I had a Saturday and Sunday to wander around Istanbul itself. I went to Hagia Sophia, Topkapi (the sultan's palace, which is too big to see in one day), the Hippodrome (which is the site of the old Roman Circus) and hit most of the major mosques in the old city. It would take several pages to describe and the best way to visualize it all is to get a good picture guidebook to Istanbul and read about them. A good part of the old city is built on hills and the old buildings are still there. Many times you walk down some of the side streets and you could be back a hundred or two hundred years. the streets are cobblestone and only an occasional car is around. The buildings are the same as they were. They have some wooden houses in the city 300 and 400 years old still being lived in. I have promised Carol we will go back in the spring together. It is really a city for two people to see together. It is really something having lunch at a small restaurant at the Topkapi palace overlooking the confluence of the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn with the ancient defense walls of the city visible just below where you sit. (You can see why you see Istanbul together). In the spring I would like to get back there and then go down to Troy, Pergamon and Ephesus (where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have spent her last days). The latter two sites are extremely well-preserved Roman cities.

There is just so much to do and see in this part of the world. Two years will not be long enough to see it all. But we will do our best. At the end of the month we have a three-day weekend and will be going to Qom (pronounced Ghom) and Kashan. Kashan by the way, aside from being known for rugs and tiles and having a good bazaar is supposed to be the place where the three magi came from. we are in the process of getting a car but fortunately to date have had the office driver Arshak available. Having a car will free us to go out on our own on Fridays (equivalent of Sunday back where you are).

It is really a funny household. this part of the world is known for extended families. We have already developed one here. We have hired the office tea boy (he cleans the office, delivers messages, and serves tea to visitors) to come and live in the extra room downstairs and clean the house. So he and his family have moved into the basement (it has a large room plus a bathroom) and he cleans the house each evening after work for two hours and then spends all day Thursday working around the house. His wife helps with the dishes, does the beds and watches the children. They have a 2 ½ year-old boy who the children love. So on a typical day we have them wandering in and out of the house, the gardener (part-time only), Arshak the driver, assorted repairment and friends of the children. It really gets to be a circus some days. To make things even wilder all of this is conducted in Persian plus a little sign language. I keep saying we should write it all down and put it out as a book. the only problem is no one would believe it in the U.S. It just is totally beyond anything that is regarded as normal back where you are. How many people have a car flip over in front of their house, the driver crawl out, dust himself off, get some people to help him right the car and then drive off? The unusual happens all the time and it happens so much you don't have time enough to write it all down. It is not boring here. It may be frustrating, tiring, aggravating, exciting, challenging and stimulating but never boring. You can find yourself being stretched every day. I can see why people say it is boring going back to the States after a few years overseas.

We have a real opportunity to grow here and learn to handle the unexpected and situations that you would never encounter in the States. I think we will be better for it. Unlike NY, Carol and I are both in this together and will grow together and not on separate tracks. You become very family oriented here, just because everything centers around the family in this part of the world (the extended family that is). Families do things together and you even have time together! I get home by 4 or 5 every day and take John with me to school in the A.M. I really like spending time with the family instead of getting up before they awake and getting home at 7:30 an hour before their bedtime like I did in Norwalk. I feel like I have getting to know my own children better and can really take part in their growth.

We have settled in fairly well, both children are enjoying school, Carol taking her Farsi lessons, me at work. The house looks like home (it needs some Persian carpets) but things are unpacked and our furniture fit in just right. It is fall right now. The leaves are all brown, they only turn colors for a day or two and then brown. The Alborz mountains have snow on them, so the backdrop for the city is really dramatic. It gets down into the 30's at night but goes up to 50-55° during the day so it is really pleasant. The pollution is as bad as ever but it stays the same all year long. Janet is learning to read and John has started to write letters and learn some Farsi.

When we came out here I thought it was sort of the end of the world but it is really a crossroads. Sooner or later everyone comes through. While we were at the Hilton, they had a tennis tournament and so we saw people like Manuel Orantes, Guillermo Vilas walking around and having dinner at the next table. Nelson Rockefeller and Happy walked by our table at the bar one night. Mike Connors (Mannix) and Peter Graves (Mission Impossible) and wives had dinner there one night. Plus assorted kings, princes and ministers. Carol and I had drinks with Robert Anderson, the former Secretary of the Treasury under Eisenhower. Next week Keith Funston, one of the Bank's directors is coming through and we will be entertaining him. (He was former head of the N.Y. Stock Exchange). So we get to see and meet people we would not otherwise meet. This does not even mention the local people here we meet. So we should have a little more polish when we get back. (Another thing I like out here is that if you ask for ginger ale or fruit juice at a cocktail party no one gives you a funny look or asks why you aren't drinking.)

We are having Thanksgiving at the house (so far 21 adults plus 10 or 15 children). What the ultimate number will be I don't know. We went out to a dinner party last night and by the time we left we had five more people coming (and we didn't know about it until the people said, "See you Thanksgiving.") Fortunately people will bring things so we won't be doing it all. It's hard to believe that it is Thanksgiving already and that we have been here two whole months.

When we left the house in Norwalk it was summer.

Carol:

Let me butt in for a moment and say this sounds pretty glamorous until you realize that to find eggs one much explore possibly a dozen shops-four more for sugar-and so on! Once you have acquired your hard-won goodies it takes the major part of your afternoon to get it all home and disinfected! Last week I found some marvelous looking green beans-bought a ton and spent the day freezing them because soon there will be no vegetables around at all.*

         *The prices here are unbelievable for some things. One lb of coffee $10, a box of cereal $1 - 1.50. Beer 50¢a can. Local things are not too bad, some of the bread (flat and unleavened) goes for I 0-15¢ for enough for a family for dinner. The diet is healthy, bread yogurt, melon, rice along with some of the usual American dishes.

Coping with our Persian bathroom has been a treat and our kitchen equipment would give even Margaret E. high blood pressure. you may wonder at our household help until you realize Iranian marble floors must be constantly hosed down because of the dust and pollution. Like Peter, I am enjoying Tehran thoroughly but thought I'd put it into perspective a bit.

Janet is totally adjusted to school-she has a long day and does not get home until 4:00 P.M. John has had more to cope with as he goes to a totally Iranian school. At first he came home with scratches and black eyes because he did not have the advantage of language to work out his difficulties. Now he loves it and has a pretty good understanding of Farsi although he will not speak it. Having our little family downstairs increases our vocabulary by leaps and bounds each day. Amir, Goli and Essie speak no English whatsoever. In fact Essie (baby) who is 2 ½ does not walk or talk and until they moved here had never had another child or a toy to play with. He is wild about J and J and cries every time they leave the room. It is typical of mothers here to cling to their children-Essie has never been left on a floor long enough to learn to walk-Goli always has him on her hip. Goli also believes that if I (initially a stranger and a Christian) make a cake each day and give it to Essie each morning for seven days he will speak-she was quite desperate about this so I have made cupcakes and so forth and if nothing else the effort has earned Goli's total devotion. This ritual was worked out in Farsi with much confusion-phone calls to Peter's office and much translating going on back and forth!

Occasionally Goli's mother, sisters, cousins, aunts telephone-when this happens I must get on the phone and speak in my painfully limited Farsi with all of them. It's almost impossible to get anything done around here-our household does have sort of a circus quality but as Peter said­ it is never boring.

 One of the nicest things about being here are the people we have met-always interesting, helpful and invariably with a marvelous sense of humor. It would take another letter to tell you about them all but the one person who is most special to me is Helen Picard. When I met her I was with Janet looking at a school-we had been here two or three days. Helen was also there with her four-year-old daughter and I immediately liked her-she's been here several years and we spent a most enjoyable half-hour talking. Several days later I found out her husband had died the previous weekend. She has been my main source of inspiration ever since-she is working for tele media here, takes an active part in many cultural activities, has four-year-old Catherine plus her husband's teenage son to support and has decided to stay in Tehran because she loves it here and this is where her friends are. Needless to say they will be here for Thanksgiving. Helen is 40, very feminine, intelligent and giving and with everything else going on managed to give a super Halloween party for all the children we have thus far met.

I'm going to brag a little bit about Peter's Farsi which is getting quite good and then hand him his letter to complete. I think in another few months he will be able to handle almost any situation!

We have heard you have moved in and the house is lovely-please elaborate-also Goli came across a picture of Laura and thought she was lovely.

As Dad can probably attest running an office in a foreign country is fun but it really is tiring. Mine is a small operation compared to Dad's in Ireland or Sweden but I get all the same problem in miniature. Dealing with the landlord, setting personnel policy, planning for future business growth and emphasis, making calls on bankers and businessmen and then going out in the evening and being charming and always being conscious that you are on display wherever you go. I can appreciate some of what you went through, Dad. I am enjoying what I am doing and am beginning to feel that I can handle a bigger operation. I am finally in a job where I am truly being challenged every day and from the looks of it this will be true for the whole time we are here. And challenged in so many ways from learning how to handle details to pushing business in the direction you want it to go in future years. Any advice would be appreciated and used. It's fun being your own boss with your superiors so far away that you really are on your own and with an opportunity to create something which you know is totally yours and not mixed up with what other people have done.

Will try to write again soon. It should be easier as things get settled down somewhat.

Please let us know how things are going with you. Could you pass this on to Dad and Marjorie and if they could pass it on to Barb, Celeste and Mog and then to Ann, it would be appreciated. Mog I'm sure you have all the reference books handy on Istanbul and Iran. If you can get to Israel any time in the next year or two let us know, or even Holland by freighter maybe we can coordinate trips. Cy if you could get out here we would love to have you and show you around. Or maybe we could even meet in Greece. Thank about it. You too Barb. Dad and Marjorie, you said you would come. Why not and stop off in Ireland on the way to or from. We will try to call some time since we have direct dialing with the U.S. Although you can't get through from here to Isfahan 200 miles south. Our love to all and hope you have a good Thanksgiving.

Peter, Carol, Janet and John

P.S. Pomegranates are not all that great to eat although they are good in cooking. They are too sour for my taste. The melons however are the best I have had anywhere.

November 1977

Dear Barbara, Cy and Mog,

I hope by now you have gotten the letter that we sent to Claire. If not please pester people until you do since it goes into detail about what has gone on since we got here in September. Things have gone fairly smoothly although we have had to work at it to make it go smoothly. I think we needed this assignment. It has given us a different perspective on things and allowed us to be much closer as a family.

Janet and John have settled down now that we are in our house. Once they had their things around them they returned to normal. At the Hilton they were not too good. John wouldn't eat for the whole month we were there and Janet was fussing and unhappy. Now they are both in school and loving it. Janet is in a school run under the British system and so is developing a British accent.

Carol is taking language lessons which she gets to practice every day since we have an Iranian/Turkish couple living in the basement and they speak no English. He works at the office and volunteered to keep the house clean in exchange for living in the basement and a small salary. His wife and child live with him and have become part of the family so they wander in and out.

We went down to Kashan last weekend (a three-day weekend) which is about four hours south of here and on the edge of the desert. lt was nice to get out of Tehran and see some of the country. So much of it looks like the SW part of the U.S. Kashan was nice and still relatively unspoiled. Most of the houses are still made of sun-dried brick and mud and the skyline is pretty much the same as it was for the last thousand years. We spent one day in the bazaar, visited mosques, climbing all over the roofs (with Janet and John in the lead) and prowling down little alleys where you really felt you had fallen into a time warp back in time. We have some pictures and I will send them along to you.

We had a nice Thanksgiving-turkey, cranberry sauce and all-for 33 people­ fortunately most people brought something and so the workload wasn't too bad. When we finally cleaned up at I :30 AM Carol and I sat down and called Dad and Margorie and her parents. It's easy from here-too easy in fact since it is direct dial-just dial the area code for the U.S. (001) and dial away. It was good to talk to people although it seemed strange to 2 AM to be talking to people who had just gotten out of the pool.

I am enclosing cards with some addresses and telephone numbers which I got just before I left N.Y. Celeste will recognize them. One has the plot number for the Boland Plot at the cemetery in Tuckahoe. Which by the way is still in Aunt Kitty's name. It has Mr. and Mrs. John F. Boland in it as well as Ruth's baby and that is all. I thought there might be others there but when I call they said that there were only three. Also they did not have any dates available on their records.

Winter is finally coming. The snow keeps coming further and further down the mountains. Tehran is somewhat like Denver in that it is set up against a range of mountains. The tops have been covered with snow for at least a month but the weather down in the city has been mild and usually in the 50s during the day.

We have heard from Dad and Marjorie since we got here. They seem to be doing well. Apparently no one has heard from Ann since this summer. Trust all goes well with you. We will write again soon when we get the chance.

Love, Peter, Carol, Janet and John.

December 1977

Dear Mom and Dad,

We will really miss you this Christmas-the Persians say "ja-ye shoma xolist" (lit. your place is empty.) All the stores have Easter decorations-you can't knock them for trying!

Last week we went to a reception for Mr. and Mrs. Varian to say goodbye and meet Mr. Orange who will be taking his place. It was the first time I'd met Mrs. Varian-she's very sweet. We had a whole bunch of receptions last week-plus an Armenian wedding where the dancing was fantastic-we felt as though we'd been dropped into another world.

Two weeks ago we took a three-day trip to Kashan which we loved-(Fred has the Kashan letter) and this week is Janet's birthday party and maybe our houseguests will be taking off for Cairo-they were going to come for a week but it's been three and somewhere in the middle of all that we're having friends over for dinner this week.

The little old man who is the doorman at John's school got incredibly grabby with me yesterday so this morning when Peter dropped John off at school he informed the doorman if he ever tried it again he'd break both his legs-in Farsi. I'm really proud of him-Peter yelled at him too which is the Iranian way-supposed you could say we're getting pretty well adjusted.

The weather has just begun to get quite cold with the snow creeping further down the mountains each day-they really are lovely and for once the air is reasonably clear-when we picnic in the mountains it gets extremely cold by dusk!

Do write and have a sunny Christmas!

Much love to you both! Carol, Peter, J.C. and John

December 1977

Dear Fred,

Not much has happened since we wrote-other than the usual minor disasters!

We went to an Armenian wedding where the dancing was terrific and the guests consumed a great many cokes and oranges. Unfortunately we couldn't stay for long because there was another buffet we had to go to. Apparently it went on for hours and nobody pays much attention to the bride and groom.

It's really hard to get in the Xmas spirit because there are no carols on the radio or decorations around town and the shopkeepers really blew it this year. There are Easter decorations everywhere in Tehran-I bought some chocolate eggs for the children's stockings. Aside from that I'm mainly getting in gear for Janet's birthday party this week-I found some pink cake mix which was a real coup.

"Mr. and Mrs. Torki" are still here-I'm glad I know some Farsi because Goli's comments are priceless. John's Farsi is pretty cute-he can't quite say, "Hello, how are you?" correctly-it comes out as, "How is your health, mouse?" The Iranians love it.

Arshak (driver) just wandered in and saw a pile of onions and chopped them all so now I have to figure out what to do with them all-it was an amazing show!-all the while he was explaining in Farsi that his wife is a lovely cook. Exit Arshak-enter Amir and so on! If nothing else------curiosity will get you here!

Miss you-Merry Christmas and love you lots.

Carol, Peter, J.C. and John

December 1977

Dear Nancy and Jack,

Things would be just fine here if you were around to grill a steak with and guzzle wine in the kitchen. We really do miss you!

Peter did write so you know a little of what's going on. With all of Tehran's frustrations-we do love it-learning Farsi has been a joy and a challenge and although our Farsi is very limited we can, at least, communicate and it has made all the difference in the world!

Having Amir and Goli here forces us to speak it all day long. When they first came to live with us Gali wanted me to make their baby a cake each morning for seven days because she believes if a Christian does this, the baby will speak. I did-and Essie can now say "cake." Amir is the Chem bank tea boy and after work each day he cleans our house-they're part of our family now. Our house is usually full of flowers her family brings-they've adopted us to the point where it's almost overwhelming! It was Amir's idea to come and live with us. We also have an American couple from Istanbul who came for a week four weeks ago and are still here-but that's another story. Possibly their and our friend David Munro may give you a call in the next week or so. David is with Chemical and sort of got us going here in Tehran-he'll be in the States on home leave over the holidays before moving to Cairo.

Farsi classes, cooking and shopping take up most of my day-along with Iittle interruptions and small household disasters (like the morning when the fuel men came at 6:30 and put 50 liters too much in our tank and flooded Goli and Amir's quarters with oil).

We had a spectacular trip to Kashan which is supposedly the town the magi left to go to Bethlehem. The children loved it and scrambled over the mud roofs and through little alleys like goats. The bazaar there is especially nice because the craftsmen do all their work there. Peter got some terrific pictures-I got copper pots. Getting out of Tehran is what makes living here so worthwhile. The people in Kashan were super-I struck up an interesting conversation with some women outside a mosque who were appalled I didn't have any children smaller than John-that's about all women are good for here. One interesting note for women's libbers in the States who refuse to take their husband's name-they don't even bother to change the name here-women aren't worth the effort!

Other highlights have been an Armenian wedding where the dancing was terrific and the guests consumed a great many cokes and oranges and didn't pay much attention at all to the bride and groom. Janet's birthday is this week and baking cakes in my oven is a treat-it's gas and has only one temperature setting. Please let us hear from you! Happy Christmas!

Carol, Peter, J.C. and John

December 3, 1977

Dear Fred,

Thanks for your letter. It was good to hear from you. Sorry you haven't gotten copies of Carol's letters. I don't think things have been as bad as you seem to have been led to believe.

We are in our house, we got the furniture in October 15 and moved in about a week later or I should say Carol and the children moved in a week later since I had gone to Turkey in the interim. I had to go on a business trip to Turkey for about ten days which was fortunately not entirely work since we managed to have a fine weekend in Istanbul. Istanbul is really fascinating and you really develop a sense of history since there are buildings there which go back 1400 years. They also have a neat bazaar and little stores everywhere. I had lunch on Sunday at Topkapi Palace and my table looked out over the confluence of the Bosporus and the Golden Horn. I spent the whole weekend walking and was really tired by Sunday night but saw a lot. definitely plan to go back in the spring and bring Carol for an extended weekend. We are thinking of going to Turkey during Nowruz (Iranian New Year March 21) and spend a week or ten days seeing places like Troy, Pergamum and Ephesus on the Aegean coast. Either that or go to Rome and Florence. There are so many things which are so close to Iran that the list of possibility is almost endless. Three hours flying time can get you from Italy in one direction to India or Ceylon in the other. We won't have enough time while we are over here to see everything but we will try!

We just got back from Kashan last weekend (a three-day weekend) where we had a really good time. We drove down through Qom in about four hours. We stopped for a picnic at a caravanserai (where the camel caravan used to stop, usually a walled enclosure with stalls and rooms for sleeping). We slept four to a room in an inn in Kashan. We went down with another couple who have two boys the same age as Janet and John and two other ones. It was a lot of fun-we went through the bazaar, climbed all over the roofs of mosques (which are mainly mud by the way), up minarets and down into ab anbars (water storage cisterns underground). The children loved it and went everywhere and became quite agile as the weekend progressed.

Kashan is a desert town and is purported to be the town from which the magi set out for Bethlehem. There is a tel or what you would call a mound on the edge of town which has yielded evidence of habitation 6,000 years ago. Now it's just a big mound of mud (dried of course since it almost never rains there).

We have settled down to a fairly regular routine. Janet and John both go to school. Janet from 8 AM to 4 PM and John from 8 to 12. I take John on the way to work and Janet takes a bus. Carol is taking Farsi classes and is even better than me at speaking it. It really helps being able to speak it since people are much friendlier. It was invaluable at the bazaar in Kashan sine we were able to bargain and talk with the merchants. We got some good deals down there, mostly copper and brass.

Life around our house is different, to say the least. We have a couple living in the basement (they have a 2 ½ year-old son). He works around the house after work and helps keep it clean as well as on Thursday (Thursday is Saturday around here and Friday is Sunday). So they wander in and out, the driver helps do small repair jobs and an occasional repair man comes in. Some days it's hard to figure out who is coming and going. And all this conducted in Farsi. Things are never dull around here. They may be frustrating, aggravating, tiring and fascinating but never dull.

We hope you can make it over next spring. March is a bad month to do anything here but April or May would be a good time.

The time goes by very fast here, not so much because we are having a great time but because every day you learn something new or face a situation so totally different from what you are used to in the States. The U.S. also seems so far away and you don't get caught up in day to day events in the States. So what may be important or seem important back home you don't even think about here. We are enjoying ourselves here and trying to learn as much as possible. You really do get to stretch your mind here and feel like you are growing and learning. Who would have thought a year ago that Carol would be in a bazaar in the Middle East bargaining in a foreign language for a copper pan?

Thanks for the pictures. July 4th Labor Day Whenever! seems too far away and so long ago now. Carol occasionally misses home but seems pretty well adjusted and I haven't missed it much at all, my family is here and that is all l need.

We had a good Thanksgiving, 33 people, Americans, Iranians, Brits, and even a New Zealander. Everyone fixed something and so we had a lot of food-two turkeys, five pies etc. When we finally finished cleaning up at I :30 AM Carol and I sat down and called Key Largo to talk to your folks and then Marco Island to talk to mine. We have direct dial here, just dial the area code for the U.S. and then the area code for whatever state. Unfortunately it doesn't work the other way round for some reason. Your dad had just left to play golf (there is a nine-hour difference in time) and my dad had to get out of the pool. It was a weird feeling at 2 AM in the morning to think that it was only afternoon in the States. I'll let Carol finish now. (P.S. As your phone bills have gone down I think ours will go up.) Let us hear from you. Why don't you get your mother to Xerox Carol's letters and send them on, then you won't have to be left out. Take care.

Here is Janet and John

I just read Peter's letter and am convulsed-the worst of it is that it is all true-except for all the stuff that goes on that he didn't include. I don't know how much it costs to get out here but you really should come. We are learning Farsi-thanks to Goli and Amir who live downstairs-probably speak Farsi more hours of the day than English-it's coming slowly­ except when people speak too fat, have dentures---or worse no teeth at all. John understands most everything but he's too self-conscious to speak it. Among the crowd here we also have an American couple staying with us for several weeks. Cornell is doing research for a PhD in Middle Eastern History-they live in Istanbul. Goli doesn't like them and so calls them Mr. and Mrs. Turkey. Actually they are very nice but the fact that Cornell studies instead of working has them on Goli's blacklist. She keeps a mental inventory of everything they eat and recites it to me every AM-naturally in Farsi-so now I can identify most things in the kitchen. Several times a week Goli's family-mother, sisters, brothers, father telephone and I must in my painful Farsi, speak with all of them, twice they have come to visit with bouquets of flowers­ homemade butter-I am Xanome-it's overwhelming-they have adopted us more than we have adopted them. When they first came to live with us Goli asked me to make a cake and give it to Essie (their baby) each morning for seven days because I am a Christian and she believed it would make him start talking-I went along with it and although Essie still isn't saying much of anything it got us off to a good start. Amir has worked for Chemical Bank as tea/errand boy for the past two years and it was his idea to come and live with us-at least now they have heat and plumbing which is something they have never had before.

We seem to be out of the house more than in it with bank receptions--one every other night this week and more to go-it is imperative that letters get viewed and passed around­ we'll try to alternate between you and Mom and Dad.

J and J are doing fine. The language barrier is frustrating for Janet but she loves school and her teacher says she's doing very well. The poverty here has affected Janet very deeply and she realizes she's too little and can't do anything about it-more than anything else both children have learned that there is more than one way to do or to say the same thing-actually this really applies to all of us. They are becoming more aware of the values of things and waste less.

Tonight when I was cutting up a squash for dinner Janet carefully picked out all the seeds because Goli has taught her that they are tasty and nutritious and at the moment she has them on the radiator in her room to dry.

It's late and tomorrow will be just as crazy as today-loved your letter-please write often.

               Lots of lots of love, Fred, Carol

Please pass this along to Fred.

December 30, 1977

Dear Mom and Dad,

It was so good to talk to you early Christmas morning-the time difference and knowing we would celebrate at two different times seems so strange--disorienting! You all sounded super. I must say that John's favorite Christmas present is his car carrier and little cars. It must have been especially designed for him! He spends hours taking them out, parking them all and putting them back again. He absolutely loves it. Janet wore her new dress Christmas day. I curled her hair and she looked precious (and knew it). She remembered the dress from your shopping trip and related all that the two of you had done-in detail. She had a super Christmas and was absolutely exhausted when she went to bed-it took hours for her to go to sleep Christmas eve-after a Christmas party with caroling she was hopelessly keyed up.

Peter was thrilled with his shirt and tie-as you know he always needs both. I can't buy ties for him here-it's no secret Iranian ties are dreadful! I love my blouse-wore it to a party the other night, it fits beautifully and feels wonderful on. I love it and I can't think of anything I needed more!

Now to get the record straight-we don't live with Indians-we live with Turks-at least they are Turkish/Iranian. Amir asked if they could live with us and in return he would take care of our house-GoIi is my built-in babysitter and more than anything else they are family. I showed Goli a picture of Mom whom she thinks looks very thin and weak-of course she says the same thing about me. Amir can't figure out why Peter is the head of the office here and doesn't feed his wife more. It's my job to take care of them-when the baby cut his hand and had stitches it was my job to freshly bandage it each day-I dispense aspirin when needed and last night a cousin of theirs slipped on the marble floor and scraped her knee which I also took care of. This morning when she left I was hugged and kissed-they are incredibly demonstrative and affectionate. This same cousin had a month-old baby girl swaddled and bound so tightly that she was as still as a board, dozens of good luck charms and jewelry pinned all over her-and eyebrow pencil on her eyes. Amazing. I have to say that besides Farsi, we have learned a tremendous amount from them.

Our Christmas holidays were somewhat shrouded by Ashura-one of the saddest Muslim holidays. There was no radio broadcasting and most stores were closed. During the actual day of Ashura the women cry and the men walk through the streets in the early morning beating themselves with chains-even the children. We could hear the moaning from our bedroom.

Some of the more extreme take knives and slash open their foreheads. Upper class Iranians do not do this-but they do fast. The day after Ashura Amir was supposed to come and babysit but completely forgot-as he explained he had beaten himself from sun-up to sundown and was exhausted. Fortunately Ashura moves up IO days each year-so next year won't be so bad.

We did have a nice Christmas which we spent with the Nelsons and a few other people­ Ann and I had also gone shopping for John (Nelson) and Peter a few days before and had all kinds of fun. I discovered that there is no way you can seriously bargain if you do not speak Farsi and because I am an American and most Americans don't speak Farsi it takes a long time to establish the fact that I am not like them and will not pay the prices they do. This makes shopping very time consuming-on the other hand I've made some friends around town and have consumed a lot of tea! There is no doubt that the shop owners will take you to the cleaners whenever possible-but at least they are polite about it. I spent all my money and from the lntercon Hotel where Ann and I were having lunch I had to call Peter to send some more who was convulsed and before long Amir arrived with an envelope of cash thinking the whole situation was pretty rich-we all did.

In between times we've all had some sort of virus-about a three-day thing. I unfortunately had to miss the day everybody went sledding and Janet crashed into a group of chadored ladies and sent them cartwheeling in all directions! They had been politely asked to move but wouldn't-and then Janet took off down the hill!

Peter's Christmas present to me was the loveliest afternoon I've ever had. I met him at the office for lunch and he surprised me by taking me to a jewelry store and picked out a lovely gold and turquoise pendant and chain and afterwards we had a leisurely lunch of caviar at Leon's. It was perfect-especially after a crazy pace-and the houseguests we had for so long. Life is settling down-it's only moderately crazy now!Much love and we look forward to your Feb. trip more than I can say!

XXX's,

Carol

Why did Nonnie get Shingles?