This morning, Inas stood at the “door” of the tent and told me:
“Auntie, good morning. Today is my birthday. I want a cone hat as you promised me. Make sure it won’t be stolen or lost on the way back.”
After work, I looked for one in the market. Finally, and after a lot of effort, I found a shop which had a few old cone hats. All were covered with dust.
“I want a party cone hat,” I said to the seller.
He laughed and said in surprise:
“A party hat! Oh, it has been so long since anyone asked me for a party hat! I have even forgotten that I still have them.”
I bought the hat and started imagining Inas smiling when she sees me approaching the tent. How she would dance in the street in joy.
I was holding the cone hat as I walked through the streets. Everyone stared at me as if I were carrying something they were not familiar with. That was, maybe, because the cone hat was the only colorful object in the scene of destroyed city of Gaza today.
A young man who was riding a donkey cart pointed at. He said to his friend: “Look, look, be careful. It is a party hat.” Both seemed confused, unable to remember how happy we were when we saw party cone hats.
When I got off the cart, I walked under the sun along our long street. The bright threads on the cone hat shimmered in the light. I forgot about the heat. My looks were focused on the reflections of the glitter on the ground.
A little boy walked beside me. He put his hand on his chin. He looked at the cone hat in wonder. He seemed anxious to ask what it was. I felt sad at that moment.
How is it that the children do not realize a birthday cone hat anymore! This child, who is almost Inas’s age; three years old, does not know what birthday, joy and colors mean!
After a while, some young men passed by. They greeted me, “Happy birthday”, they said. I was not angry. On the contrary, I felt happy, for happiness still means something to them.
The best moment was when I passed near a group of children. They ran towards me and started to examine the hat. For them, it was like “treasure” which has not been seen in decades. They kept repeating the phrase, “happy birthday,”. Their eyes did not move away from the hat.
When I returned to the tent, I told Inas all about my journey of buying her the cone hat. It is true that we live in a war, however, we still should not ignore our rituals of joy. We need to keep trying to move on and enjoy every happy moment regardless of how little we have.
Happy birthday to our dear granddaughter, Inas and congratulations for the nice pineapple bag gift she is wearing on her shoulder.
Aseel Salameh
24/08/2025
