LOOK BUT DON'T TOUCH
A written time capsule for my granddaughter
May 19, 2020
Dear Solly,
Weeks before your first birthday, a global coronavirus pandemic began sweeping through America. New York and New Jersey were particularly hard hit. A new unimaginable norm interrupted our lives.
These days, when you visit your grandparents with your mommy and daddy, we only meet outdoors. When we drive to your house to take you for a walk, we wear masks and gloves. There are government-imposed lockdowns, businesses and schools are closed, people are out of work, and it’s scary.
How sad that this crisis came along, and until a vaccine is invented and the restraints are lifted, social distancing is required. We use all our willpower to refrain from holding, hugging, and kissing you, our precious one-year-old granddaughter. When you reach out for us to pick you up, we reluctantly back away and wonder if all the bonding we did was for naught.
We’ll always remember that the prohibitions started the week that your daddy turned 32 in March 2020. What will the ramifications be? Hopefully, you will retain the warmth of the days when you lived under our roof, from when you were two-months of age to seven-months, and we cuddled you nonstop.
We wouldn’t want you to have the recollection of us meeting you outside masked and gloved as you settled into your new house during the days of the pandemic. Even though, to you, it’s just a game of peek-a-boo. We are taking plenty of pictures that capture the spirit at this time in your young life.
When your parents moved back from Portland, Oregon, where you were born on April 20, 2019, and purchased a house a short eight-minute drive away, the thought of showing you the world was exhilarating. So many plans have gone awry due to the contagious COVID-19 virus. Now, with your baby sibling due in July, we made an unwritten list of the places we were looking forward to showing you, to keep you joyfully entertained, our dear granddaughter.
Not only did the list include children’s museums, the Turtle Back Zoo, located in your town, and a variety of playgrounds, but the beauty of nature. We live minutes from the South Mountain Reservation and just as close in the other direction from either of our homes we have the grandest cherry blossoms in the country, at Branch Brook Park.
One afternoon, to avoid disturbing your nap, your pregnant mommy, or your daddy working from home these days, I texted your parents to suggest an outing at the Presby Iris Gardens in Upper Montclair. Proposing that it was worth a short drive to enjoy the beauty of the various colored irises in bloom, I added, maybe if you go, we can meet you there.
We were excited to see your reaction to the pretty flowers within the condensed area visible from the street. Lucky for us, when we met at the gardens, the gates were open and we strolled around for a closer look at the blossoms.
We may not venture to touch you due to the fear of the looming coronavirus, but you still touch our hearts as you discover the world, and we share in the beauty of it all. Your captivating smile and endearing personality brighten our days.
On Mother’s Day, you drove past us with your parents as we traveled in separate cars to serenade my brother Stu on his 70th birthday. Gathered on his front walk, you joined in the festivities as we sang three rounds of Happy Birthday to your Granduncle Stuey while he stood socially-distanced behind the storm door on his front porch. He and Granduncle Alvie beamed with delight as you waved and blew kisses.
As things become less tenuous, we look forward to rediscovering your child’s view of the world. And, don’t forget the ways we plan to delight your sense of taste. As promised in the hospital in Portland when you were born and your mommy handed you to me, my first words were, you’re so beautiful, I’m your Grandma, and I can’t wait to bake chocolate chip cookies for you.
Watching you learn to eat, crawl, stand, and walk, albeit, virtually via Facebook Portal, and eat your birthday cake at your one-year-old Zoom birthday party, sometimes makes it feel as though you're still living in Portland. While we must only entertain you outdoors, for now, standing the recommended six feet apart, at least we don’t have to travel by airplane or train to visit. That’s not true for Aunt Rina and Uncle Eric in Los Angeles or Uncle Moss in New York City, who all miss you immeasurably.
We think back to your great-grandparents, who only knew their loved ones through letters from afar, and your parents and grandparents, who recognized their dear ones by the sound of their voices on the telephone. This helps us to appreciate how fortunate we are to have the ability to at least see you and hear you on our computer screen, Portal, or FaceTime. You could be the one to invent a system for bringing the other senses to one another’s homes across the wires.
Wherever our children or grandchildren are, they will always hold a special place in our hearts. Be well, stay safe. When the coronavirus nightmare is over, you can touch me all you want. Watch out, those Grandma hugs and kisses are aching to come back.
With all my love,
Grandma
P.S. Shout out to my friend Barbara O., forever an educator, for recommending with all the writing that I do, I should write to you, my baby granddaughter Solly, about these harrowing days.
Masked and gloved, grandparents take Solly for a walk in her neighborhood in May 2020
May 17, 2020 Solly at Presby Iris Gardens Upper Montclair, New Jersey
Practicing social distancing. Presby Iris Gardens Upper Montclair, New Jersey May 17, 3020
Presby Iris Gardens Upper Montclair, New Jersey May 17, 2020