A friend of mine's wife went to Iran because her sister had cancer and was in her final days. Unfortunately, her sister passed away, and due to the traditional mourning ceremonies held in Iran, she hasn't returned to Turkey yet.
Mourning customs in Iran are quite different from many parts of the world. On the day someone passes away, there is the funeral followed by hosting guests. After that, relatives gather for several nights—with some even staying overnight—so the family feels less lonely. This can stretch up to a week, followed by memorial ceremonies on the 3rd day, the 7th day, and the 40th day.
Personally, I find this quite exhausting. When my father passed away, everyone stayed at our house for 7 days. The grief of losing a father is one thing, and the exhaustion of not being able to rest is a whole other burden.
Now, my friend is left alone in Turkey. His daughters are here, but they go to work, and on the days he is alone, he expects me to keep him company and spend time with him.
I don't mind this part, but the real issue happens when he calls while I am sleeping and gets upset if I don't answer right away.
I usually work at night, so I sleep during the day—though not all at once. I sleep for a few hours, wake up to handle some tasks, and sleep again, splitting my 8 hours of sleep across the 24 hours.
So, this friend wakes up around 8:00 AM on Saturdays when his daughters are at work, and he calls me. When I miss the call, he gets upset!
On top of that, because living costs in Turkey have risen significantly, I have to work much harder to earn a living, meaning my time isn't very free.
Now I have to balance spending time with my friend, managing his feelings until his wife returns, and keeping up with my own demanding work schedule.
The photo I uploaded is from the city of Istanbul.
I previously edited the first image using Lightroom and Photoshop.
However, the next two images were edited using the software I am currently writing. I will be releasing a demo version very soon for you to try out, so be sure to follow my page!
if you enjoyed this post, press like, reblog and follow my page
Love U all ❤️
Morteza Yousefi