Category: Birthday
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COVID-19 Diaries: Missed Milestones
“Can you bake me a chocolate cake?” My littlest one asks, her round eyes wide with anticipation. I add ingredients to my virtual cart and cross my fingers and pray. “How many days to my birthday?” “Can I wear a dress for my birthday?” “Can you get me an Elsa bike?” “Can you get me…
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COVID-19 Diaries: Birthday Edition
Today was a day I had a lot planned for my twins. Ice cream cake, pizza, a sleepover with friends and possibly surprise gifts. Instead, we woke up to giggling girls, skipped breakfast, ate badam kathli, downed a simple kootu and rice for lunch, napped and cuddled as a family and spent the rest of…
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Birthday Wishes For The Man In My Life
His voice undulates as he reads. Laddu is on his lap, her hands raised to circle his neck. Ammu is sitting on the sofa behind him, a smile playing on her lips. Pattu scrambles downstairs at the sound of his voice, leaving behind a trail of LOL dolls and their accessories. I walk around the…
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Milestone: Five Years Old
“Can I towel myself off?” “Can I put Aveeno all by myself?” “Can you help me with my shirt?” “Can you warm this pasta up?” “What did you pack for lunch today?” “Can I have some chutney please?” This girl of mine is exceedingly polite. She says sorry and thank you. She asks for permission…
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Milestone: Ten Years Old
Pattu bounds down the stairs each morning, a full hour before her sister Ammu wakes. Some days she hugs me around the middle. Some days, she sits at the island waiting for her dad to wake and give her company as she brushes. Our early morning conversations are limited but a growing reminder of how…
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Finally, A Gift He Likes!
“This is the best birthday gift you have given me!” Saathi beams as he chops vegetables and lifts his eyes to mine. I search for snark and find none. He truly is enjoying the breeze the portable fan in front of him is generating. For years he would sit at the island, sweat beading above…
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These Little Girls Of Mine
She stands in her batik printed dress, the silky fabric clinging to her body as she strikes a pose for me. I click and I am taken aback by the young woman staring back at me in the photo. I turn the phone off and suggest that she wear a Capri pant underneath. Year over…
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The Morning After – Birthday Edition
I lift the blinds on the side door. The room feels suddenly chill and I shiver. I continue to sort clothes into piles. When I am done, there are three. I start the washer and the sound of the walkie-talkie startles me. The twins are sitting next to each other on the sofa and talking…
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Wishes
The cold is uncomfortable. The kids shuffle along looking for their cozy slippers long buried under a mountain of fleece and wool. I long for a sweater but hold out hope for a return to warmth. The rain does not help. Incessant, drab, the drip, drip of the water is grating on my nerves. I…
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Unbridled Joy
In the minutes before the clock struck three and the cars would start arriving in our driveway, I prowled the first floor of my home, camera in hand. Just as I thought I would head to the basement and snap pictures of the hastily made decorations, I spied Ammu and Pattu by the window. The…