Building Bridges: A Short Version of My Story: From Iran to the U.S.

My name is Behnaz Reid; my husband gave me my nickname “Benny” knowing that some folks might have a little trouble pronouncing my foreign name. I was born and raised in Iran’s capital city, Tehran, long before the 1979 political revolution that overthrew the Shah, rocked the world, and forever changed my world.

I grew up in a military family; my father was a general in the Shah’s army. He was one of the generals asked to help govern the country during the 1978 Martial Law period declared by the Shah when the revolution began. Months later the Shah was forced to leave the country and a new Islamic government took over. Life was not easy after the Shah left. With my father ordered to jail by the new regime and my mother losing her job, our lives took a big turn. My sister and I were going to school and working at the same time to make sure we would not rely on our parents to get by.

Dealing with my parents’ situation, working, and getting married when I was 20, and then having two kids made me grow up quickly. But I was able to graduate with a university degree in Medical Technology, and worked for a few years at a prominent Tehran hospital. That experience gave me the opportunity to get to know Canadian citizens working at the Canadian Embassy across the street. Those interactions would later help me find new directions.

After the chaos of the revolution came the upheaval as Iran quickly changed from a monarchy to a government ruled by Islamic clerics. My sister and I, and all Iranian women, lost our freedom. Then we survived a 10-year-war between Iran and Iraq, living under constant Iraqi air force bomb attacks.

It was time to make a move for a better future for my children in a different part of the world. I reached out to the Canadian embassy and applied for immigration. We made it to Canada in eight months and started a new life thousands of miles away from our motherland, my parents, siblings, friends, and our roots. It was not easy. I was suddenly immersed into a society with a different language, culture, rules, and expectations. Despite my university degree and experience, it took years to establish myself in Canada. My husband at the time could not take the pressure and moved back to Iran. But I never gave up. There were times that I held three jobs at once, working everyday just to keep my family of three together. I also volunteered to assist the police department’s victims’ assistance unit. Meanwhile, my daughter joined the Canadian army at 16, and volunteered to be sent to Afghanistan to serve the country. I cannot even find words to express how I felt for the eight months that she was overseas.

In 2006, I met Sean, now my husband, and later we moved to the states. I began working as a Medical Lab Scientist for a large regional hospital in Boise, Idaho. After working there for six years we moved to our PebbleCreek home. I was excited to earn my U.S. citizenship in 2016, volunteer at the coroner’s office, and today I am very busy as the Infectious Disease Network lab manager for a large Phoenix hospital chain.

In Canada before, and now in the U.S., I am happy to be giving back to the country which embraced me when I needed it.