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by Barbara Yakimchuk
Time Travel Through Music: The Childhood Of Najla Said
The dad stories are always the ones that move me the most — probably because I feel, deep down, how grateful I am to mine for that unwavering love he gave me as a child (and still gives me now). That is exactly what happened with Najla’s story.
Music is such a magical thing — it has a way of unearthing memories you thought were long buried. But when it is not just tied to a time or a place, and instead takes you back to a person — that is when it truly hits differently. Suddenly, you can almost feel them there — sitting beside you, driving the car, or pulling faces across the dining table. And in that moment, it feels like that “forever” they talk about in rom-coms.
Najla Said, an Egyptian photographer now based in Germany, shared a story that is exactly that — tender, full of love for her father, and wrapped in the songs they once listened to together.
One summer on Egypt’s North Coast, I was a little kid messing about the house when I accidentally stumbled upon some pool chemicals. To this day, I have no idea how it happened, but I still remember the moment I made the mistake of rubbing my eyes with my hands — and the screaming that followed. I couldn’t see, and I was completely helpless, until my dad came rushing in, utterly confused about what had happened.
Without a second thought, he instinctively put the same powder in his own eyes, just to understand what I was feeling. The next thing I remember is the two of us, half-blind, sprinting towards the pool and jumping straight in.
It might sound painful — and it probably was — but somehow, his decision to share my pain before doing anything else turned it into one of my favourite childhood memories. And dare I say, a rather painless one.
So this is an ode to the hit songs I used to listen to with my dad as a kid.— Najla Said
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