Mojtaba Taherzadeh was my father in this lifetime. He was my teacher, my mentor, my advisor, my guardian, and my best friend.
He went by the name "Moji" which was short for Mojtaba. He always said his middle name was "MT" which stood for "empty" because he did not have a middle name. He had 2 brothers (Mostoafa and Morteza) and a sister, all of his immediate
family including his mother and father had passed on prior to his passing. Most of them including his mother and father died just around the age of 65. This may have been the reason
why he always thought he would go at the age of 65. He survived starting over in life a number of times. He was caught up in the Iranian revolution as a political prisoner, he had escaped from this same country (where he was born) Iran,
once before when he was college age. He wasn't happy with the dictatorship and all of the oppression of women and people of other religions besides the Moslems. He dreamed of the Promise Land, America. He landed here sometime in the late 1950's.
My dad was a Nuclear Physicist. Yes, he was an extremely briliant scientist. He could capture your attention for hours just to discuss the possibilities of black hole and their origins. He worked for the US Navy and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
along with TRW. What he really wanted to do was write a book to teach young physicists. A book that would challenge world religions. You see, to him, the book was still out on whether or not there was a God. He thoroughly enjoyed discussing and debating two of
the subject most people stay away from, religion and politics. He saw debating as a sport or a game, one that he loved to win. He was very passoinate about what he believed in. He always searched for those people that felt they were 100% sure of something
and then would love to blow a hole in their bubble (theory). He loved to solve and deliver riddles, and twists on words in addition to telling jokes. My dad had a very contagious laugh. He would start laughing and it would be very hard to not start yourself.
He was open-minded though, when Reagan was saying that Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" was patriotic, he asked me (the BRUCE expert) if what Reagan was saying was true. I told him the first two or three stanza's of the song, and he piped in with "Oh, Bruce
is a modern day Bob Dylan". He loved music, especially, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan (Blowing in the Wind), Celine Dion, and the song "Three coins in the fountain".
Oh, and I forgot, Neil Diamond. He would always be open to listening to new music.
Moji was a very devoted husband and father. He had 3 daughters, I somehow knew as a child that I could get to know him better, if I took an interest in Football, baseball and Basketball, especially UCLA sports. He was a huge Bruin fan. Some of the things he treasured the most
was his UCLA sweatshirts. I will never forget being able to get tickets to a "UCLA vs. USC" football game....we had so much fun. I remember the first game he took me to also, although I am not too sure about when it was. It was a UCLA Basketball game. John Wooden was the coach and
Kareem Abdul Jabbar was one of the players. I had a UCLA flag that he bought me and I waved it so hard that I lost it in the croud.
I also loved Persian food and music. Some of his favorite memories involve my mom and my step-mom. He used to always tell me that he fell in love with my mom when she learned farsi and sang persian songs at parties. Another experience he talked frequently about was when my stepmom would sing
in Farsi. She has a very lovely voice and he was in heaven when she would sing. She sang for my wedding and this made him so happy. My dad lived for my family. His goal was to be able to leave my sister and step-mom with enough assets to allow my sister to go to college and my stepmom to survive.
He sacrificed his own pleasure to be able to provide for us. I will never forget, times were tough, and my car broke down while I was attending college. He and my step-mom took me to the used car dealer and there right in front was a beautiful light blue metalic 1979 Chevy Camaro. I test drove it
and apparently they talked about how happy I looked in it and they stretched to make ends meet, and helped buy me the car. Some of my best memories from my youth include riding around in that car.
He worried so much about all of his daughters welfare. He said that he wouldn't stop worrying about us until we were married and settled. But when we reached the age of 30, his duty was over, and by that time, we should be able to support ourselves and rely on ourselves. This was probably the worst time for my little sister to lose her father. She was only 14. I try to keep his memory alive for her. I always bring him up in conversation. It is a Jewish thing, someone doesn't die if you keep their memory alive. My kids know who he is because we have a big picture of him in our living room.