About

When I was 7 years-old, I saw the movie Forrest Gump. Looking back at it, by no means is it a movie suited for a 7 year-old. But in a way, the movie was made for me. The impact it had on me was in more ways than one, and it persists till today.

There is one scene more memorable than all. It continues to grip my imagination, tug at the strings of my heart, and move me. It opened up the possibility of me what I can be. That one day I can be.

As a boy, Forrest was fitted with leg braces to correct a curved spine. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny, and the two become best friends.

There is a scene where Forrest is walking with Jenny. Three boys arrive with their bikes and begin bullying Forrest, taunting him and throwing rocks at him. Young Jenny tells him “just run away, Forrest.” Forrest, with his leg braces can’t even bend his knees, yet he exerts himself and begins to walk faster and faster. As the boys’s taunts grow, Jenny cries out “Run, Forrest, run!” At that moment, Forrest, moved by Jenny’s cry, finds the strength to begin to run. He runs so fast that he shatters right out of his leg braces and keeps on going, leaving the three bullies in his dust.

Born in Iran, I left at a young age as my parents escaped persecution. As immigrants in a new country, English was my second language. I had a very hard time speaking because I couldn’t express myself. When I became older, I deeply desired to write but when I tried, nothing came out. I had these profound emotions trapped in me, desperate to find light. But that scene where Forrest breaks through his G-d given limitations remained with me. It secretly inspired me. And one day, daydreaming, I replayed that scene in my mind over and over again. And I felt in my heart the call of my soul, crying out to me:

Write . . . Man . . . Write!