Heila Ershadi visited Moab and had a strong feeling she should stay. Now she’s married and raising a family here. She’s setting down roots and is now running for Moab City Council.
1) What initially brought you to Moab?
I was traveling with a friend from Tennessee to Montana and stopped in Moab to visit a friend for a few days. I had a strong feeling that I should stay in Moab.
2) What do you love most about living in Moab?
I love the people. I love the land. I love that I can put the kids in the bike cart and pedal us to most of the places we go.
3) What do you dislike about living in Moab?
My family is too far away. I’m hoping that more relatives will move out West eventually, if not to Moab, then at least into the same time zone.
4) What is your occupation?
I am a full time mother to my two kids: Veda who is four and Cyrus who is two. I am currently running for city council.
5) If you could have any job in the world, what would you most like to do?
Moab City Council.
6) Describe a typical day in your life.
My son usually wakes up before me, and will climb on me and until I get up and make him breakfast. We usually do an outing, then come home for lunch and a resting time. Then usually go out again, often to the pool. My husband Brer plays with the kids while I make dinner. After we eat, it’s time for our bedtime routine, which lately involves reading a “Fancy Nancy” book to Veda and one called “Dinosaurs” to Cyrus.
7) Some people have bumper stickers on their car that reads: I’d Rather be Sailing. What would your bumper sticker read? I’d Rather Be…
I’d Rather Be Napping.
8) Tell us one thing people don’t usually know about you.
I think about death a lot. Not obsessively, not morbidly, but I don’t usually talk about it because death is such a sensitive subject. But I am very aware that our time here is precious, and no one is promised a tomorrow.
9) In high school, you would have been considered the person most likely to…
I don’t know what other people thought of me, but I thought I was destined for greatness!
10) What is your favorite Moab activity?
Moab Farmer’s Market. Socializing outside, buying delicious healthy food, supporting awesome local businesses: it’s the perfect combination.
11) Tell us your favorite non-Moab place to visit.
My favorite non-Moab place is my grandparents’ house in Oak Ridge, Tenn., when the family is all in town to visit.
12) What do you consider your greatest achievement in life?
My greatest achievement so far has been creating a loving, stable family. My husband and I were both children of divorce, and so we came into our marriage having no role models for the situation.
13) If you were President, what’s the first thing you’d do to make life better in America?
I would tell the truth, and work to find common ground.
14) What superhero power would you most like to have?
I’d like the power to heal sick children.
15) If you could be an animal, what would it be? Why?
I would be a dog because they are loyal and defend their pack.
16) What is your all time favorite movie?
A film called “Sweet Land” that is about a young German woman who moves to America to marry a farmer she has never met.
17) And, your all time favorite book?
“World Made by Hand” by James Howard Kunstler is tied with “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell.
18) If you were stranded on a desert island, which three CDs would you want to have with you?
I would take the three CDs that a good friend made for me during and just after college. Best compilations ever.
19) If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Why?
I’d invite my twenty year-old self to dinner, feed her something healthy because I know she’s eating junk, and give her some needed advice.
20) What is your life philosophy?
Be honest and compassionate.
