Hi Mom سلام مامان

The text messages were part of my exchanges with my mother during the twelve-day war that engulfed my home country. Those twelve days felt like twelve years—time itself seemed to lose meaning. Days and nights blurred together; I could no longer tell which time zone I was in. I was suspended between the constant refreshing of news tabs and memories of the home I once knew, while my loved ones lived through another version of that same home:

Fri, Jun 13

• Hi Mom
  سم مامان
• Hello Darling, how are you? We just arrived
  in Tehran
  سم به روی ماهت عزیزم خوبی, ما ان تهران رسیدیم

——-Voice call; No answer——-

• What happened? Did you go back to Tehran?!
• Yes, darling
  -Why didn’t you stay in Tabriz ( City, NW part of Iran)
  -It doesn’t make a difference, sweetheart.
  Don’t worry, everything is fine.
  خی نیست فرقی نداره گل من, به کارات برس نگران نباش خی نیست

——-Voice call; No answer——-

Sat, Jun 14
-Hi, Mom, are you sleeping?
-Hello darling … (forwarding some religious
prayers)

-I wish you could stayed a couple of days in Tabriz
-Whatever happens, we will accept it. Tabriz is the same;
in the afternoons, Aunt and Grandpa could hear the blasts continuously.
They were scared too!
هر چی پیش بیاد تسلیم هستیم, فرقی نداره تیز وضعش بدتر هست از
ظهر اقاجان وفریده میگف صدا ها پشت هم میاد, الهی مادر فدات
بشه نگران نباش هر چی پیش بیاد تقدیر, خیلی دوستت دارم تو مواظب
خودت باش عزیز دل سعیده
Pray for all of us, don’t worry too much.
Everything that happens is fate.
Love you.
Love you.

Sun, Jun 15

• Hi mom, news showing air defence is shooting!
• Yes, your dad is sleeping, and I’m awake for morning prayers.
  Don’t worry about us, we are tired and sleepy.
  ضد هوایی ها کار میکنن. نگران ما هم نباشین ما خسته
  هستیم در خواب

Mon, Jun 16

——-Voice call;No answer——- 6:30 pm/ Local time 2:00 am

-Hello mom, how are you guys?
-There is oil depot burning in Shahran (neighborhood in Iran), we can see smoke in
distance.
Everyone is awake, some sort of silence is dominating the city.
یک جای تو شھران انبار نفتی میسوزه از دور دیده میشھ حا تا صبح
ببینم چکار میشھ کرد
speak with your brother if you can,
he is really stressed, maybe you can give him some comfort.