My birthday’s still a few weeks away—over two weeks to the real one, a full month to the one on paper—but my parents already got me a gift: a pair of gold earrings. I love anything my parents give me, I really do. But I’ve never liked getting gold as a birthday gift. I’ve told them so many times. I’m tired now—exhausted, honestly. The thing about gold is, it’s not just a gift. It becomes something you might have to sell one day, when life gets heavy. And selling a birthday gift... that hits different. It hurts more. I’ve sold every piece of gold I ever got for my birthday. I can’t even remember what most of them looked like, even though I wore them for years. But there’s one gift I’ll never forget. One Valentine’s Day, back when I was in high school, my mom gave Behnaz a book of Hafez poems outside the school. Then, when we got home, she handed me a CD: the audiobook of For One More Day by Mitch Albom, translated into Persian by Gita Garakani, narrated by the warm, unforgettable voice of Mikaeil Shahrestani. She had no idea what the book was about. She’d just picked it up on the way back from dropping off one of my Ghalamchi practice exams. But that book made me cry so much the first time I finished it. It’s about a mother’s sacrifices—what she does to keep her family together. And somehow, without knowing, my mom gave me the perfect gift. I still hear that voice in my head. I still love that story. I even read it in English later. Books are just... the best kind of gift.
The Little Popcorn.