conversion from blackberry 8700 to iphone

[iphonefrog]

The way I got my email from my gmail account to my blackberry was to set up automatic forwarding from my gmail account to my blackberry address. the switch from the blackberry to the iphone went perfectly i am getting all of my gmail messages. however when people send me a message it appears as though i am not getting it because the blackberry sends them a message saying that it is no longer in service. with the iphone do i have to set up a forwarding address from gmail or is it not necessary? my understanding is that the iphone doesnt have an email address of its own. yes i am confused.