“I hear her voice

whenever I use them.”

I remember my grandmother peering over her reading glasses, sewing outfits for my Barbie, then G.I. Joe, snipping a tiny sleeve with this pair of scissors. I hear her voice whenever I use them: Having thick hair is a good thing when you get old, as I trim my Middle Eastern eyebrows. Just wear heels. And for God’s sake, some lipstick, as I cut the thread from a hemmed pair of slacks.

I wish I’d asked her where she got them. Did they first catch her eye in a Tehran shopkeeper’s window? Did they travel with her to Delhi, L.A., San Francisco, all the places she passed through before settling in Florida? There are actually a lot of things I wish I’d asked her: How do I cook that pomegranate chicken dish? Did I make a mistake by dropping out of law school? Did she regret remaining faithful to an unfaithful husband?

~ Debbie Danielpour, professor and writer, Boston, MA