My Dad's Sewing Machine 
​Translated from Farsi to English
408 words from 1067 words

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For as long as I can remember, he was always behind his sewing machine.
Just to give you an idea of what I mean: when he had an accident and was taken to Sina Hospital- where he got hepatitis through imported contaminated blood injection- he returned right to his sewing machine after the hospital discharge. Or, as he put it, in the days of the occupation of Iran by the Allies in World War II, my dad’s step-mother succeeded to urge his spouse into sending my dad to military service. However, my grandpa had to take him away from his sewing machine to force him into going to the service. His only wish, during the days of the service, was that the sewing machine would be there the day he were to come back to his father's store and the step-mom wouldn’t mess with him anymore.
His father had taught him how to tailor. But when my grandpa’s tailoring store got broke, my dad went to Mr. Kazemeini’s store in Bistochahar Metri Street in front of the telecommunication center and became his right-hand man. They sewed anything, from banṭalōns, Sheilas, abayas to tapering men’s and women’s pant legs
In 1980, when the Iran/Iraq war began, Mr. Kazemenini migrated to Karaj (a suburb of Tehran). My dad, my sisters- Shahnaz and Souri- and I stayed in Ahwaz. My mother and the rest of the children went to Mashhad to be safe from war. In that period, my dad found it very difficult to make ends meet. He was able to earn a crust if he was lucky enough to get an order to take in/out pant legs or replace buttons.
Shahnaz went to the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation and said "My dad is a tailor; he used to work in a tailoring store since he was a little boy. The store owner has now migrated to Karaj and now my dad has no job after all these years. What should we do?"
They responded," He has the right to reopen the store since he has been working there for years, it is his absolute right to do so, and we will come and open the shop for him."
Shahnaz told my dad the whole story. But he said," If I die of hunger, I wouldn't do so. It is forbidden by Allah to break into someone's shop. Allah Al-Azeem! Don't mention Mr. Kazemeni's name once more! Don't you dare?”...