​Dear Atria,

I am very happy to be given an opportunity to send you a Christmas gift this year. Please thank your mother for providing your new postal address.
​
I sent you a package yesterday and I noticed that the delivery was attempted this morning, but surely you must have been at school and no one was home to receive it. The collection note has been left by the postman, so you can get the package now from your local collection office. I hope you will enjoy it :-)

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year 2018!

Happy Easter Atria :-) I hope you had a lovely Easter holidays and you are looking forward to the future with joy, hope and optimism. Whatever your future holds be ready to take advantage of all the great opportunities, overcome any obstacles and work towards making your dreams come true. Do your best and don't be scared of failure - it's an important part of every journey and a valuable learning curve.

This year I was alone at Easter, but I had people I love in my heart and although I wished they were here with me I didn't feel lonely knowing that they are thinking of me and they care about me. I hope you know that I do think of you a lot and I care for you.

The picture above was taken during my latest visit with Baba couple of weeks ago. With me in the picture you can see Leo's rabbit, he is now an important part of our family and he travels everywhere with Anna... well, he actually lives in her handbag. This rabbit spent two days with Leo in his cot and was there when Leo died. It's strange how an unsnimated object gains a great importance when is associated with someone we love...

Dear Atria,
 
Life it not measured by how many years we have celebrated our birthday, but by how many new experiences we had during that time and what we have learned from them.
 
I am sure you have had lots of unforgettable moments in your life. Today, after wishing you a very happy birthday celebrations with your family and friends, I also wish to treat you with a new experience.
 
Any adventure is often more enjoyable when we have a friend to share it with. I hence have bought an hour-long Segway experience for you and a friend or a family member you want to share it with. I hope you will enjoy it.
 
Happy Birthday dear Atria.
 
Your dad Farshid

Happy International Women's Day dear Atria! It's your day. Fill it with happiness and joy :-)
I wish you to be a woman of substance. Be a real woman that learns from her mistakes, gathers her strength from her struggle and overcomes the obstacles courageously. Be an intelligent woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman, a woman that touches others with kindness and inner beauty.
Do you know how the International Women's Day has originated? It started as a Socialist political event in the Soviet countries and was originally called International Working Women's Day. Over the years the day lost its political flavour and became simply an occasion for people to express their love for women and to celebrate women’s achievements throughout history and across nations. in 1977  the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 8th March as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

Dear Atria, the Christmas package I sent you in mid-December came back couple of days ago. To my surprise it apparently hasn't been collected. I thought that maybe you were away for Christmas holidays and therefore was not able to collect it? Anyway, I will keep it for you and I will send it to you again whenever you want. Please contact me via this website, email or phone whenever you want me to post it again.

Every year I and Anna add one new ornament to our Christmas tree. We had a squirrel, fairy and some other fancy decorations, but this year's addition is very special.
This year's addition are two Macmillan Stars in memory of my Mum (MadarJan) and Anna's Dad (Tato), who both lost their battles with cancer.
We made a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support and as a thank you we received these stars.
Macmillan is a charity that supports people with cancer and their families. They aim to reach and improve the lives of everyone with cancer. They provide care, moral support, advice about work, help with money worries or just are there for anyone who wants to talk about cancer. 
​Our loved ones are no longer with us and unfortunately there is nothing we can do to bring them back. Our donation however could help others who are fighting against the same terrible disease that took away our beloved. ​

​Dear Atria,
 
Your Christmas present this year is a limited edition ice-watch. I got it for you with the hope that every time you look at it, it will remind you to value your time and to cherish your memories.
 
Time we value at present forms our future happy memories, whilst the time we took for granted and did not value contributes towards our future regrets.
 
Look forward to a better new year; believe in yourself and your abilities. Whatever you want to do, do it today; don’t wait till tomorrow. There is a saying that ‘There is always tomorrow’, but there are times when tomorrow may be too late…
 
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2016.
 
Your Dad,
Farshid

This is the card with a big hug from me to you. I don't know if you can read the message from the picture, so here it is what it says:

Dear Atria,

Lots of hugs and my loving thoughts for you on your birthday.
I always wanted for your all the happiness, health and success there is in the world. Now you are well on your way to become an adult, certainly mature enough to listen to someone’s opinions and advice, and decide for yourself which part of what you hear is a sound and good advice that may change your life for better, or how someone else’s story of success may suggest to you a different approach towards life and its challenges or how it may shed a light on a different path in life, or all of the above and more, whatever the case may be.
This year I decided to get you couple of books about happiness and law of attraction. They both give a comprehensive advice on how to be happy, how to love life, laugh more, live longer and achieve everything we want in life. One of them is an audiobook as I thought you may like to listen to it on your blue iPod while you are walking.
Your grandfather (Pedar Jan) is with me and he wishes you a very happy and glorious birthday.

Happy birthday my Princess
Your Dad Farshid

Dear Atria,
Happy Birthday!

When we are a boy or a girl, on our birthday we are simply one year older. 
However, when we get to an age that we grow to a Lady or a Gentleman, on our birthday we also get one year wiser. 
My dear daughter, today you got one year wiser.

Look back at your Life since your last birthday and recall all your memories. Let the good and pleasant memories inspire and motivate you in the year ahead, but don't let the less cheerful or less pleasant  memories to discourage or dissuade you in life. Just remember them and learn from them, specially memories of any actions you regret.

Remember, Failures and Mistakes are Actions or Answers which you identified as undesirable or wrong, but yet failed to learn from them.

If you do learn from your mistakes, although still wrong or undesirable actionsy, they will become Experiences in life which eventually will be leading you to glory and success.

Wishing you a very happy birthday.

Your dad
Farshid Shenassa
25/06/2014

Dear Atria,
Yesterday, 1st of June, was an International Children's Day. I hope you had a great and very happy day!
The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, proclaimed June 1 to be International Children's Day in 1925. After the conference, different governments around the world decided to declare a day as Children's Day to draw attention to children's issues - to protect children from long working hours and dangerous situation in the workplace as well as give every children chance to get education.

Dear Atria
Happy New Year, Norooz Mobarak!
This year the Iranian new year "Norooz" was on 20th March, today, at 16:57:07 GMT. We are a few hours into iranian year 1393.
The Iranian new year is celebrated by all Persians around the world at exactly the same time. A complete solar calendar year is 365 days and almost 6 hours, so depending on where you live, because of the time difference, the new year will happen at different time of the day.
I look forward to the Norooz when I be allowed to greet you and give you  presents in person. This year I hope to pass them on to you through your Mum in May when I expect to see her. Here is what I got you.

Your father Farshid

I got you this girly, butterfly handbag as I thought it is very cute and just perfect for Norooz, which is also the beginning of Spring.

This is a collection of quotations from Paulo's Coelho's books, full of wisdom, courage and inspirations. I hope you will enjoy them.