ariet girgis was born in egypt and then came to the u.s. when she was 29 years old. her family settled in northern california. ariet led a comfortable, all-american life. but cultural ties are strong and in 1980 ariet was called back to egypt to meet a nice young man named magdi. >> when my mom went out there and ended up meetin' him, she, like i mean, she really liked him. >> reporter: years later, she would reminisce about how their romance blossomed. >> in egypt, you really can't just go out like on dates and stuff. so they went together to the movie theatre and then when it got real dark, my dad reached over and gave her, like, a kiss on the cheek. >> which was a very big deal. >> yeah, for her it was, yeah. i think it almost sealed the deal. >> reporter: it wasn't the american way of falling in love, but ariet seemed happy. she and magdi married just two weeks later in egypt, and moved together to california. in 1981 richard was born. five years later came ryan. >> reporter: richard was delighted to have a brother to play with and to watch over. >> so you were hi