In fall of 1997 I took a job as a middle school coach. I had a number of keepers present at tryouts but I only selected two for the final roster. I had a starter and a backup keeper although gradually the starting keeper gravitated towards playing as a defender and thus the backup keeper became the starter by default. I wondered how his soccer career progressed following middle school so I looked him up. He had passed away at age 26 in California. Rest n peace Jonathan.
"My parents, brother, and I left Iran in 1980, shortly after the revolution. After a brief stay in Italy, we packed all our belongings once again and headed west to the exotic and the unknown: Vancouver. We had recently been accepted as landed immigrants, meaning Canada graciously opened its doors and we gratefully accepted; we arrived at Vancouver International Airport on my 10th birthday, three suitcases and one sewing machine in tow. After respectful but intense questioning at immigration, we were dropped off at a hotel on Robson Street, which was then still a couple years shy of becoming the fashionable tourist hub it is today. We were jetlagged, culture shocked, and hungry, so that first night, my father and brother courageously ventured out into the wild in search of provisions. I fell asleep before they returned. The next morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and ravenously feasted on a cold Quarter Pounder with cheese and limp French fries that had been left by my beds...

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