In the early hours of Saturday, I set our Nowruz spread. I grew up in a household of ceremonies and rituals. Everything was a BIG deal to my parents, worthy of time, attention, and love. Of all the ceremonies celebrated in my childhood, however, nothing was as big as Nowruz. Weeks of preparations and cleaning chores and shopping delivered my family into the moments the year changed, the biggest deal of the year. I left my parents’ home when I was 18. Whatever I learned there has obviously made a serious impact on me! I have celebrated Nowruz at my home and away, in a small student studio or in the middle of life-changing crises, in foreign lands and in Iran. However and wherever I have celebrated the beginning of the New Day, it has been with thought, love, and hope … more 
