When the Lights Came Back to Aleppo

In December 2016, after four years of relentless bombardment, the ancient city of Aleppo fell into an eerie silence. Entire neighborhoods sat in total darkness — no electricity, no streetlights, nothing but rubble and shadow. Families huddled in basements, unable to imagine that morning would ever feel safe again. Then the ceasefire held. And slowly, impossibly, people began to return.…