Sounds come from the past.

I can remember very clearly my mother’s sweet voice singing me some lullabies, the smell of jasmine tree in our front yard and the shining colours of different types of roses and a vine tree which was planted by grandmother, my father on my grandfather’s farm. It was full of chickens, hens, ducks, cows, sheep, olive, almond, lemon, mandarin and orange trees. I was fortunate to witness a cow giving birth to its calf as my aunt told me. I was born in November 1982 in a very small town called Safita. Syria passed through very tough situations at that time and successfully overcame everything.

We were not used to having smartphones or social media platforms, satellites or lots of TV channels. All that we had is a small TV with two or three channels, Damascus radio and BBC broadcast every morning in Arabic and lots of pleasure. I still remember my grandmother’s food tastes and her recipes. She used to cook for the whole family.

Instead of sitting in front of computer screens, children were able to play out, run, laugh, paint and spend a good and fun time together and with their families. I never forget my father’s gift to my sister and me. We used to go to the library together and buy collections of stories and magazines for children and colours. The most beautiful and unique gift was a letter copybook. It was decorated and coloured, so we wrote lots of letters and sent them through the post office.

In fact, we were really very blessed to live at that time, and I think that I still live it. I still live my glowing past in my mind and heart.