Birthday celebration

This weekend, we celebrate. Zoya is turning six years old, and this Saturday we have planned a small party to celebrate. There will be a few kids, a few grownups, good food, a space-themed cake, space-themed balloons, and some merriment in our backyard pool, if the weather holds up. This is not an elaborate celebration, but instead an excuse to bring together people we love in a small gathering to commemorate our wonderful daughter turning another year older. Every photo I have of my birthday celebrations when I was younger is of me holding a piece of fried chicken. I look ecstatic in each one. It didn’t matter what the party looked like or what we did; I was happy because I was with friends and family and because I was eating fried chicken. (I’m easily pleased that way.) This is what I hope for Zoya: that she looks back at photos from her birthdays and she sees joy. It didn’t matter what the celebration entailed; what mattered is that she was with people who love her and she was…