3 minute read
A Story of Friendship
When I was a 15-year-old sophomore at Mary Help of Chris=ans Academy in 1978, in English class one day Sr. Mary Anne Zito, FMA had a few leaers from a school in Iran and asked if any of us would like to write to a pen pal. (I later learned from my pen pal that there was a Sr. Ethel from our school who was assigned to her school, which was run by the Va=can.) The students there had wriaen leaers which were sent to Mary Help, and I asked to have one of them.
The first thing I no=ced when Sister handed me Mina's leaer was her last name. My last name "Mania" was within her last name "Kermanian.” I thought that was preay cool and felt an immediate connec=on. Liale did I know that we would form a lifelong bond.
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From the first leaer I sent her, we became fast friends, sharing our likes and dislikes about movie stars and singing stars and boys we liked, ac=vi=es we enjoyed…all the things that define the world of a fileen-year-old. We would send pictures to one another through the mail and keep each other updated about what was happening in our lives. It took a while to receive mail from Iran and vice versa. I always looked forward to Mina's leaers to see what was new with her.
I believe it was the summer of the year we started wri=ng to each other that I got a phone call at home one day. This was right around my sixteenth birthday. What a great surprise; Mina was calling me from New York City! She and her family had traveled to New York with her father on a business trip. I told my mom, and she and my dad said they would take me to the hotel in New York, The Roosevelt, to meet her. My mom ran to the mall to buy a gil for me to give to Mina. She purchased a beau=ful music globe that played, "It's a Small World."
When we arrived at the hotel, I was so nervous. We were wai=ng anxiously as they came down the elevator to the lobby to meet us. My sister, Linda (MHCA ’85) also came along. It was a wonderful few hours as we sat in the lobby and talked with Mina and her family. Mina's mom spoke no English but somehow she and my mom understood each other. When I gave Mina her music globe, she handed me a set of silver bangle bracelets as a gil.
This was the only =me Mina and I ever met in person. All these forty-two years, we have kept in touch solely through our leaers. As =me passed and technology advanced, we went from wri=ng leaers to faxes to emails, and now Facebook and Instagram! We have kept up on all the occasions in our lives such as da=ng, marrying, having children, taking care of our parents, vaca=ons we’ve enjoyed, and everything and anything in between. The one thing we never felt the need to discuss was poli=cs.
There were =mes when we lost touch with one another, due to crises in Iran or other circumstances
beyond our control, but somehow we would always come back around to wri=ng. I hope one day we will be able to meet in person again. Today, Mina is single and s=ll lives in Iran taking care of her elderly mom. She works for the United Na=ons in their Food and Agricultural Organiza=on agency. I work alongside my husband, Bill, in the family catering business, Giuliano's Catering Service. From one chance encounter with a schoolgirl’s leaer, to a life=me friend…thank you, Sr. Mary Anne Zito!
Michelle Mania
Mrs. Kermanian, Mrs Mania, Michelle, Mina, Mina's friend, Mina's Sister, Linda Mania (boRom)
Michelle and Mina exchange gics.
The two friends at The Roosevelt Hotel in NYC Mina (back lec) and family
