On every shelf, in every room of my home, delicate copper photo frames stand on display with faces of my loved ones smiling back at me. There’s my husband, Andy, 38, and our daughter, Amelia Elina, four, known as Millie, our parents, grandparents, Andy’s sister, and brother, and our best friends. My uncles in the UK, and cousins in Iran and America – even their children. But earlier this year, Millie made a keen observation: ‘Mummy, why are there no pictures of Elina?’ There are no pictures of my mum’s youngest sister, Elina, the aunt I named my daughter after. Truthfully, after Elina’s death, I found it too painful to see her pictures any more.
Though Elina lived in Tehran, Iran, and I grew up in Hertfordshire, she’d been a huge part of my life. She and my mum, Ellie, had shared a room growing up until Mum moved to the UK at 22. But they talked every day, joking late into the night, and I’d often hear Mum’s cackle in the air and Elina’s echoing on speakerphone. Every school holiday, I’d visit Elina. Her food tasted like Mum’s, her eyes sparkled with mischief, and she was liberal, forward-thinking, and fiercely independent.
But Millie’s question set me thinking, and during the first lockdown I fished out photos from the holidays I’d spent with Elina. I stopped at one she’d taken of me, aged 15, with her son, Arian, then 10, and two more of my cousins, Salar, then 16, and Sardar, 14, just minutes before she went to bed. Late into that hot Tehran night, the four of us had played backgammon and laughed until we cried.
Bu hikaye WOMAN'S OWN dergisinin November 30, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye WOMAN'S OWN dergisinin November 30, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Is it ever OK to lie about your age?
Kaye Adams has done it, and even Mel B jokes that she doesn't believe friend Geri Horner is 51. We ask...
‘I DIDN'T THINK.I'D SEE MUM AGAIN'int ICAT AFAR
MelB on rebuilding her life rebuilding her life after her abusive’ marriage
8 WAYS TO BECOME A MORNING PERSON
Improve body and mind with just a few simple tweaks to your daily routine
WHY YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST LOVE
(laire Dore, 50, learnt a lot from her first serious relationship
WHAT'S THE NAKED ATTRACTION ?
After a host of celebrities admitted to stripping off behind closed doors, Natalie Brown, 43, decided to bare all to find out just what all the fuss was about
MY FURY AT BEING A GRAN AT 52
Shona Sibary was far from excited when her eldest daughter welcomed her first child
A YEAR IN THE MAKING
Many of us shy away from drastic change but for these three women, it was just what they needed
I LOST 6ST AND FOUND THE REAL ME!
Shay Al-Ajami May, 32, was fed up pretending to be happy, so she decided to make it a reality
WHAT DO YOUR FEET SAY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH?
From heart disease to arthritis, here’s what they might be trying to tell you…
HOW CAN WE HELP OUR CHILDREN?
With more young people facing mental-health crises, we investigate what needs to be done