WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER turned 90 a couple of years ago, I decided to take my husband and children to visit her in Iran. I spent many a night awake before our trip, worrying about our safety, about how my husband would feel returning to Iran for the first time since leaving at the height of the 1979 revolution. Could my 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son abide by the Islamic Republic's rules? Would I be able to show them the country I used to love?

It didn't occur to me to fret about my face.

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