After we finished our plate of golden, crispy empanadas, my son Darius and I slipped into one of those easy, unplanned conversations that seem to flow out of nowhere. We talked about everything and nothing at all—until something caught his eye.
A few feet away, a group of birds was pecking excitedly at the ground. Darius tilted his head and asked, “Mom, do they feed the birds here often?” I smiled, remembering how we’d often seen bits of rice sprinkled along the pavement. “Looks like they really do,” I said. “These birds must think this is their five-star restaurant.”
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Then, out of the blue, Darius pointed at a man passing by and burst into laughter. “Whoa, Mom, that guy looks just like Dad!” I turned to look—and he wasn’t wrong. The man had the same bright white teeth and warm, easy smile that reminded me so much of Darius’s father. I couldn’t resist teasing, “Maybe that’s the Middle Eastern version of your dad.” Darius cracked up even harder, adding, “Or Dad from an alternate dimension!”
The laughter carried us into another topic, and somehow Darius mentioned, “Oh, by the way, I got my teeth cleaned today.” That was all the opening I needed for one of my signature mom talks about self-care and hygiene.
“You know, baby,” I said, “taking care of yourself isn’t just about looks—it’s about discipline. From your mind to your body, what you eat, how you rest, how you care for yourself—it all adds up. You’ve got to treat yourself like your own full-time job.”
Darius nodded, pretending to take it all in with great seriousness before cracking another joke: “So when they cleaned my teeth, did they clean my brain too?” We both couldn’t stop laughing.
It’s moments like these—simple, unexpected, filled with warmth and laughter—that remind me what life’s really about. Between my son and me, between our jokes and small talks, lies something bigger than the moment itself: connection, love, and the quiet joy of just being.
