To the love of my life...
March 2nd, 2026
— A day the world became more beautiful —
My Dearest Clara,
Happy birthday, my love. Today you turn 28, and somewhere in the room, a black cat with your exact birthday and your exact attitude is pretending he doesn't care. But we both know he does. And so do I, more than I've ever known anything.
I still remember walking into Cilantro on Street 9 and seeing you for the first time. A 23-year-old girl sitting there, not knowing she was about to change someone's entire life. That was the day the universe tilted in my direction. One coffee, one conversation, one look at you, and I knew. I think I've loved you since before I even understood what that meant.
We met on September 12th, 2021. And Clara, nothing has been simple since. But nothing has been boring either. You brought color into a life that was stuck in gray. You showed me what it feels like to be chosen, not because it's easy, but because it's worth it. Because I was worth it. You made me believe that. You made me believe I was your choice forever.
I think about Alexandria. That first night on the shore. We sat there in silence, just looking at each other while the waves spoke every word we couldn't say yet. The sea knew before we did. Then Calethia, the drinks, the walk back to the hostel, and then that kiss on the stairwell. It wasn't gentle. It was violent, desperate, like we'd been holding it in for lifetimes and our bodies just couldn't take it anymore. And what came after that kiss... we both know. We spent the whole night in the streets and shores of Alex, unable to let go of each other, unable to stop, unable to pretend this was anything less than everything. That city still holds a piece of us in its stones.
I think about our shitty apartments, yes, plural, because one wasn't enough for us. They weren't much. The walls were questionable. The furniture was a crime. But you were in them, and that made them the most beautiful places I've ever been. You have this gift, Clara. You make anywhere feel like home just by showing up.
I think about the wine bottle we couldn't open and how we invented engineering that night. I think about the moon puzzle I gave you, a thousand pieces, just as beautiful and complex as you. I think about your birthday in 2023, that magical week where everything felt perfect and I got to spoil you the way you always deserved. I think about watching Avatar in 9D and Lan Yuan dinners and all the concerts and comedy shows and the nights that blurred into mornings.
And I think about watching you grow. Clara, I've been next to you since 2021. Not just as your boyfriend, but as someone who's had a front-row seat to your career. I watched you walk in as a fresh sanfoor, figuring things out one step at a time. And now? You're the entire head of the operation. You run the show. I watched you walk that path one inch at a time, and I have never been more proud of anyone in my life. You did that. All you.
I carry a wound with me, that I couldn't give you the world the way you deserved. That my situation, my papers, my limits as a Syrian in Egypt, kept us small when your heart is so big. But I'm not that person anymore. I moved to Maadi. I followed you to Sinai, twice. I'm becoming the man you always saw in me, even when I couldn't see him myself.
We broke apart in June 2025. The Apocalypse, because that's what it felt like. Like the world ended. But then August came, and we sat across from each other again, and something in your eyes told me it wasn't over. And in September, we said the bravest thing two people can say after everything: "Let's try again." Darling, I think we made it out of this alive.
I love you. Across every kilometer between Egypt and UAE. Across every fight, every doubt, every sleepless night. Across every version of us that existed and the one we're building right now. This love has been tested by distance, by pain, by other people, by my own failures, and it's still here. Still standing. Still choosing you.
So today, on your birthday, the day you and our dramatic little Smokey decided to share, I don't just want to say happy birthday. I want to say: thank you. For being brave enough to try again. For loving a complicated man with a complicated life. For being the kind of woman who makes shitty apartments feel like palaces and broken men feel like they might actually be enough.
You and Smokey are the best fucking things that ever happened to me. I still can't believe the universe let them both arrive on the same day. March 2nd isn't just your birthday, Clara. It's my favorite day in the history of days.
Happy birthday, my love. This is just the beginning. And in the spirit of us, we are never, ever getting back apart. Not this time. Not ever.
I love you. I choose you. Today, tomorrow, and every day the world gives me.
Forever yours, Sam ♥
P.S. Before you even think it: no, this website is NOT my clever attempt to get away without buying you a proper gift. The real gift is waiting for you when you come back. This is just the appetizer, habibi. 🎁
I walked into a coffee shop not knowing my whole life was about to change. One coffee, one conversation, one look at you, and everything before that moment stopped mattering. I knew you were trouble when you walked in. But the best kind.
The very next day. I couldn't go 24 hours without seeing you again. When someone makes you rearrange your entire tomorrow before today is even over, that's not a crush. That's fate showing its hand.
You came to Alex. We walked the shore for hours. We talked, we laughed, we drank at Calethia, and then, that kiss on the stairwell. We couldn't stop. We spent the entire night in the streets and shores of Alexandria. I was wonderstruck, blushing all the way home. Except neither of us went home that night.
It wasn't the Ritz. The walls were questionable. The furniture was tragic. But it was OURS. We took it for a week, and it became our entire world. The first of many. The original. The shitty apartment that taught us what home really means. It's not about the place. It's about who's in it with you.
We kept coming back. Different apartments, same beautiful energy. Questionable plumbing, furniture that had seen better decades, and us, not caring about any of it. Three more apartments. Three more chapters. The love inside those walls was worth more than any penthouse in the world.
She brought wine. I was excited. We had no bottle opener. What followed was 30 minutes of creative engineering, cursing, laughing, and eventually, wine. My first time trying it. We invented a new way to open a bottle that night, and it should honestly be patented.
My first 9D cinema experience. Avatar: The Way of Water. She keeps introducing me to things I never knew I needed. That's her superpower. She opens doors I didn't even know existed.
Lan Yuan in Maadi. My first real Asian food. The best beer I've ever had in my entire life, and I mean EVER. She expanded my world one dish, one sip, one adventure at a time. Every meal felt like discovering a new country.
Stand-up comedy shows that made us cry laughing. Concerts where we screamed lyrics at each other. Events, outings, nights that turned into mornings. We didn't have the world, but we made Cairo feel like it was big enough for the both of us. Every night out with her was a memory worth keeping.
A tiny black furball entered our lives, born on March 2nd, just like his mother. It was destiny. Smokey became our baby. Clara is his mom, I'm his dad, and he inherited every ounce of her stubbornness, her charm, and her talent for making me feel like the luckiest idiot alive. Two March 2nd legends.
Her birthday in 2023. I went all out. Gifts, surprises, a whole magical week. There was the moon puzzle, a thousand pieces, as beautiful and complex as her. That week felt like what our life is meant to be. And I'm going to make every birthday feel like that, starting now.
We work together. I've been there since day one. I watched her walk in as a fresh graduate, figuring it all out. And bit by bit, inch by inch, she built herself into the head of the entire operation. I helped her pick the laptop. She did everything else. I've never been more proud of anyone in my life.
We broke. After years of fighting for each other, we fell apart. June 2025. It felt like the end of everything. The kind of pain that makes you forget what normal breathing feels like. The longest, darkest chapter. But even apocalypses end. And from the ashes, something was still glowing.
We sat across from each other. No promises, no pressure. Just two people who had been through hell, trying to figure out if the fire had burned everything, or just the parts that needed burning. Something in your eyes told me it wasn't over. It couldn't be.
We said the scariest words two people can say: "Let's try again." This time with eyes wide open. No illusions. Just two people who love each other deciding that this messy, beautiful, relentless love is worth every scar. We twisted in bedsheets and made it out alive. For good, this time.
Our first real trip. Nuweiba, Sinai. Mountains meeting the sea, stars like neither of us had ever seen. I moved to Maadi, I planned this trip, I was determined to show her: I'm not the same person. This is who I'm becoming. For you. For us.
We returned to Sinai. Because some places call you back when you're becoming who you're meant to be. The second trip felt different. Calmer, deeper. Like we weren't visiting anymore. We were planting a flag. This is our place now.
I'm in Cairo. She's in UAE. The distance is real, but it's temporary. Everything we've survived, the breakups, the distance, the doubt, was just the prologue. The real story starts now. Long story short, we survived. And the best is yet to come.
#1
"The way you laugh when you think no one's watching, that unguarded, real laugh"
#2
"How you stayed when it wasn't easy to stay, and came back when it was even harder"
#3
"You introduced me to wine, Asian food, 9D cinema. You literally opened my entire world"
#4
"Your patience with my situation, my papers, my limits. You never once made me feel less"
#5
"The way you love Smokey like he's your actual biological child"
#6
"That kiss on the stairwell in Alexandria. I've replayed it a thousand times"
#7
"You made every shitty apartment feel like a palace with nothing but your presence"
#8
"Your strength. You're the strongest person I know, and you don't even realize it"
#9
"The way you look at me when we're completely alone, like the world stops"
#10
"You believed in us even when I almost didn't. Your faith carried us"
#11
"How you came all the way to Alexandria just to see me, and changed everything"
#12
"You make me want to be better, and for the first time, I actually mean it"
#13
"The way you drink beer at Lan Yuan like it's a sacred ceremony"
#14
"You gave me a reason to move to Maadi, and I'd move anywhere for you"
#15
"Even across countries, you're still the closest person to my heart"
#16
"You chose me. Twice. After everything. That means everything."
#17
"Watching you grow from sanfoor to queen of the operation. I've never been more proud"
#18
"How you handle pressure like it's nothing, when I know it's everything"
#19
"The way you mothered Smokey from day one. Same birthday, same energy, same heart"
#20
"You're the reason I believe in second chances. Ours is the best thing I've ever done"
Every year I get to wish you happy birthday is a gift I don't take for granted.
Every challenge we've conquered is proof that we're unbreakable.
Every kilometer between us is just a number — and a temporary one at that.
This love — our love — is permanent.
From your Sam, your Hossam, your person.
Always. No matter the distance. No matter what comes next.
"I once believed love would be burning red — but it's golden."