I spent an incredible time in Portland with Alex this past weekend.  It was his first time back since his 8-week Peace Corps training in the summer of 1967.  During the weekend, he connected with 100’s of other Peace Corps volunteers who had served in Iran in the 60’s and 70’s, some of whom he’d been very close friends with – and even a few who had met Ali.  He even met the man who had trained him in Persian, several hours a day, 5 days a week.  It was amazing to spend a weekend with so many people – Americans – who all spoke fluent Persian.  I was the odd man out (and will be picking up my Rosetta Stone prior to the reunion, I’ve decided!!).

It was also enjoyable to just continue to spend time with Alex since he’s my uncle.  We had breakfast each morning together, went to the Portland farmers’ market, and attended Portland’s 12th annual Iranian Festival.

On Sunday, our last day in Portland, I took Alex to a bench nestled in a beautiful stretch of little parks on the Portland State University campus.  There I interviewed him about how he and Ali are feeling at this point, and was so moved when he spoke of the sound of Ali’s voice on the phone.  When they used to speak on the phone, Alex said that Ali often had a tone of depression or sadness.  It would eventually dissipate throughout their conversation, but it was often there.  Now, Alex says, the new life that he hears in Ali’s voice is palpable.  Since their decision to reunite, he hears the unmistakable sound, gets the unmistakable feeling, of hope, energy, vitality, confidence. Joy.

Alex discusses how he and Ali are feeling about their upcoming reunion.

It made me think about one of the answers to the questions I had asked Alex during the last 2 years of our work compiling and documenting the story of their love together in Iran in the 60’s and 70’s.  When they knew they couldn’t be together any more, Alex told me the story of the sound Ali made… (it’s hard to even write this without tearing up)

I just can’t imagine the sound of two souls being torn apart.  There aren’t words to describe it.  Alex heard it once that day.  Primal, sad, grieving, human.

Then I began to wonder what it sounds like when two souls, separated for 34 years – separated by 1000’s of miles, by revolution, by cultures, religion, politics – what does it sound like when these two souls overcome it all, climb higher and farther than anyone or anything can reach, and reunite?  What does it sound like when they once again collide?  Will it sound like thunder?  Like the crashing of waves in the sea?  It must be one of the most beautiful sounds the universe can make.

In the love letter Ali wrote to Alex, from which I took the title of this film, he spoke of their love being something which was inevitable.  Something which, once it began, could not be stopped.

What’s awesome – truly awesome! – is that, this fall, we’ll be there to capture that moment, that sound, of these two souls coming back together.  Two souls, never to be separated again.