Talking about Nowruz and celebrations while thousands in Iran and around the world are mourning loved ones lost to COVID-19, and the local mosque announces a few names every day*, with people clinging to prayers and lamentations, while police sirens and red-alert announcements sound every few hours, is something beyond difficult after 20 days of home quarantine. Yet what can we do but hope in that small minority that drives humanity forward. Wishing survival to anyone reading this, and then a better year ahead, even if we weren’t deserving of better than last year, may the universe at least, for its own variety, smile on us a little rather than our father’s grave.

*In Turkey, there are no official death announcements; the names of the deceased are read at the local mosque where they lived, and the date and time of ceremonies are announced subsequently.