Message from the Editor

• Citation: Vol. 38 No. 1
• Publication year: 2016
• Author: Naghmeh Bashar

Message from the Editor

Naghmeh Bashar

It was one of those March days...

[w]hen the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. - Charles Dickens

As I write this message, spring is in the March air, flowers are blooming, all things seem possible and in reach. Your Family Law News team decided to mark one of my favorite seasons with a beautiful cover page that is reminiscent of springtime, with the strong tree trunk and branches abundant, a reminder that family law is for the strong, with the practice just as diverse as these colors and as vast as the branches of this tree.

My four-year term as your executive editor is quickly coming to an end. I have only two more issues to put together for you. So, I thank you for having indulged me, especially with your busy schedules, by allowing me to write these messages providing some insight into my world, information I have learned along the way and tried to pass along, with my calls to action and while trying to tie them all to our practice of family law.

I am going to do that again here. This year, March 20th, marked a day of celebration for many around the world helping us realize we are more alike than different, even though we celebrate in different manners. This day was The March or Spring Equinox, which is the moment when the sun crosses the celestial equator - the imaginary line in the sky above the earth's equator - from south to north. This happens on March 19th, 20th, or 21st every year.

At the moment the sun crosses the equator is the moment Spring begins, which this year it was at 9:30 p.m. In Iran, my birth country, a new calendar year began based on the Persian astronomical calendar. The Iranians celebrate Norouz/Norooz/No-Ruz, which means "a new day." It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years and is rooted in the traditions of Zoroastrianism. I like to take this opportunity and wish all those who celebrate Norouz a...