by AnnSheybani | Apr 14, 2011 | Authenticity, books, Cinderella, Codependency, exotic cultures, extreem dependency, goals, husband, identity, Intimacy, Islamic Fundamentalist, marriage, Muslim, pregnancy, Prince Charming, trapping a man, Uncategorized, virgin, virginity
When I was in first grade, I wanted more than anything to be Cinderella. I found the picture book character, one I’d come across in the school library, the embodiment of glamour. From her sparkling full-length yellow dress, to her pair of smashing, see-through pumps;...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 28, 2010 | adventure, Authenticity, Codependency, Confidence, Denali, Into the Wild, Jean Craighead George, Krakauer, mountain climbing, The Other Side of the Mountain
I had lunch last week with an old friend I hadn’t seen in years. Both oddballs in high school, we’d dreamed of baking bread together when we graduated, raising sheep, and starting a commune in rural Vermont. She’d do the wool spinning and...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 14, 2010 | 10 Stupid Things WomenDo to Mess Up Their Lives, attachment, Authenticity, Codependency, divorce, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, extreem dependency, goals, Honesty, identity, Iran, manipulation, pregnancy, Self-Esteem, trapping a man
“You know,” my boyfriend said one night over a lovely dinner. “Once my contract’s up at NIH, I should really start thinking about going home to Iran.” He said this casually, as if offering up a random observation, not dropping a ticking time bomb square in my lap....
by AnnSheybani | Aug 8, 2010 | Bigotry, Chiang Kai Shek, Codependency, Cultural Issues, Gloria Steinim, Hostage crisis, Iran, Rescue, Suzy Wong
I’m disappearing to a writer’s conference for ten days. So here, because time is not my friend, is a segment from my book The Lost Girls of Shiraz. A draft, but a taste nonetheless. He’s so sure of himself, this man beside me. So comfortable in his own...
by AnnSheybani | Apr 19, 2010 | Authenticity, Betrayal, Codependency, Courage, Honesty, Intimacy, Iran, mixed marriages, Secrets, Self-Esteem, Sue Miller, While I Was Gone
“I want you back and I want you back this instant,” my husband said over the phone. From the dangerously controlled tone of his voice, I knew I’d pushed my self over the precipice, past the point of no return. I’d just called to tell him that the kids and I wouldn’t...
by AnnSheybani | Mar 3, 2010 | Betrayal, Boundaries, Codependency, Cultural Issues, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Polygamy, Self-Esteem, The Invitation
A long time ago, before I had children, my husband took a second wife. We were living in Washington, D.C., not the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I had nothing of real value to lose if I packed up and left. The other woman— an old girlfriend who, last I’d heard, had...
