Fatima AlBanawi Instagram – ✨ She loves the color red and wears it often. But he keeps convincing her that red is for the young: “Oh, red again? Didn’t I tell you it’s for young girls!?” Yet again, she surprises him the next morning, emerging from her bedroom in another stunning red look. Pairs of pearl earrings or green emeralds dance from her ears, a flower or ribbon adorns her hair, and her blushed cheeks are framed by a bright smile.
My grandmother is pure light.
You’d be drawn to her beauty, to the extent you’d forget to notice the wheelchair she’s on. For her, it’s red in the mornings, orange in the afternoons, and green in the evenings, and most importantly, a life full of colors.
My grandmother is pure light.
Lately, she’s been wearing blue every day, a hospital gown they put on her. But I still manage to sing to her, “hada ellon aleiki yejannin yeshbah lon eyoonik” — oh this color, how beautiful it fits you, matching the color of your eeeyyes — a song I grew up listening to in her tender voice. Today, she lays in a bed, still, calm, catching her breath, and yet raises her hand to send you a fly kiss when she catches you passing. She rests her eyes, and yet opens them the moment the sliding door opens to tell you she’s up, ready, and expecting your visit. Barely speaking, she whispers your name, in celebration.
My grandmother is pure light.
They tell me that I took it from her—the wit, the mockery, the humor I throw into the air amid heavy, painful moments, like yesterday when she pointed at the heart reading machine (the pulse oximeter) placed on her finger and told me it was her wedding ring. We laughed. And with all this light, she is still teaching me to embrace the shadows too. Life is a beautiful chaos, a blend of ups and downs, joy and sorrow, love and fear, shadows and light.
My grandmother is pure light.
True fulfillment comes from filling life with moments of beauty. But beauty isn’t born from perfection. It is the balance of sweet and bitter experiences. Here’s to the journey, the transformation, to love and loss, and to being fully beautifully human.
I finally know exactly who I want to become when I grow up.
To my sittu and the colors that adorn you🌹💫 | Posted on 05/Nov/2025 03:18:01
