We are given the opportunity to meet many people in a lifetime. And too few people.

Too busy with problems, preoccupied with ourselves, extremely careful to maintain appearances, build our CVs, attend events with a crowd, have thousands of likes and be tagged, dress in a certain way and take stunning pictures, check in at 5-star locations, where we meet our friends at the spa, lunch or dinner, run away from work to pick up the kids, pick them up from after school, take them to ballet, German, painting, origami, go to the gym and count our calories every day or, on the contrary, fall into a cruel and dark melancholy, without seeing any light at the end of the tunnel or anything, we forget about the truly important things.

We forget to make a simple phone call, without asking for anything. We forget to ask those who cross our threshold (even by chance) if they are thirsty or hungry. We forget that you don't enter a person's house without a flower or a cake. We forget to ask for forgiveness, to pray nicely, to be sincerely happy, to thank, to forgive, to pray for someone's good, to take a stand, to help, we forget simple things. We forget to care. Of course, we forget, if we ever knew. Because not all of us evolved, guided by the same parental advice or relating to a healthy system of values.

After a while, I understood the meaning of a childhood story. "Be very careful who crosses your threshold and surround yourself with People!", my parents used to tell me. I had no idea why they would have thought I would ever isolate myself, I always had people around me. In fact, I couldn't live without being among them! Over time, however, I began to realize that, out of the crowd of people surrounding me, very few...really are.

And because I can't change like the times, and I don't want to, I realized three years ago, when I was just waking up, that I was touching the sensitive chords of people like me. I realized then that Sipet de sidef really has a chance to be what I want. Whoever discovered us and trusted us, whoever knew what "sipet" meant, loved the stories, understanding the essence, the desires and the purpose of its birth.

From the beginning, we did things differently. We sent dresses without paying a deposit, to everyone's amazement, relying on good faith. We personally delivered dresses, we went out of our way to get gifts in a few hours, we answered messages in the dead of night, we consoled (all night!) desperate and lonely mothers with feverish children, because they felt that we resonated, we shared thoughts, recipes, advice, we congratulated children, parents, grandparents, we were part of countless happy, funny, unexpected events and we left our mark on thousands of memories, we fulfilled wishes, we tore promises, we became attached to entire families, we welcomed the arrival of brothers and sisters. Entire pages were written in these three years. Pages of fulfilled wishes.

Thanks to us, various chests made their way into our friends' homes, where memories sat, neatly and carefully arranged. We were perfect accomplices. We convinced children to sleep in their cribs, to eat vegetables and fruits, to turn counting the good deeds of the day into an evening ritual. We demonstrated that it is possible to offer premium services at more than decent prices.

We don't have clients, but friends. Some of them visit us annually, with clear occasions. We almost know when we are going to receive a sign from them. Others, who are not yet parents, have crossed our threshold once or twice and are waiting for new occasions. A large part of them are in love with a special category from our collections, school uniforms or play dresses, sports shoes or bed linen. Many, many of those who admire us, don't have children, but they promote us intensely in their circle of friends. Sure, we can't resonate with everyone, but who does?!

We care about what happens around our story and how the lines are laid.

That's why, as we reach an important age and prepare to enter a new chapter, we want to thank all of you, dear friends from Romania or far away, for the warmth with which you have chosen to support us in these three years! Because you make the difference between us and just any tailoring workshop.

And because the loyalty, recommendations and messages of some of you have literally overwhelmed us all these years (in which we have even met several times in a month), I have chosen to thank you, just the way I like it. Otherwise. Or in a way that not many could do. With all my heart, putting a drop of it in a few silver boxes, with emotion and with the hope that they will reach everywhere. In fact, firmly believing that they will! Of course there are so many sophisticated sweets, created especially to be offered (and even suggestively named), as is customary. But if I ask my mother, a wonderful teacher, what gifts she received from her students that have remained etched in her mind, she will tell me, without a doubt, that she misses drawings, small handcrafted objects, the smell of snowdrops picked by children who were late for class because they came from far away on foot, through snow and mud, and which they left on the desk, after taking them out of their pockets, with their little hands thawed by the wood stove.

And I look like my mother.