Teezo Diaries: June 2nd

June 2nd is my Siti’s birthday.

I go about my day, and keep thinking about her.

Thinking about her voice, the smell of cigarettes, and freshly baked Syrian bread.

The way her hands looked, the decades written all over them in waves of colorful veins and mountainous knuckles, how those same hands created a life for my family. How they fed us thousands of times, how they formed Syrian dough balls and grape leaves over and over and over for half a century.

She was quick to celebrate others and slow to bring attention to herself.

I think about the two little tattoos on my arms that remind me daily of how much of me is from her.

Today I go through the motions.

I spend time with God, I go to yoga, I help a friend, I do laundry, and bake bread.

And in between these motions, my mind goes to, “Oh wow! It’s June 2nd!”

For dinner, I’m making grape leaves. I look at the pile of towels that need to be folded with Jeopardy (intentionally) in the background.

I say all this because I see her in all these little moments.

Sometimes I feel like I type in circles when I talk about her; what have I not said about this woman? Even if I am repeating myself, repetition isn’t a bad thing.

I hope to repeat myself constantly in how she loved and cooked for others.

With Love,

Cara