to border closures and people who have missed family weddings or funerals and big birthdays. We’ve all been hit somehow or have someone close to us who’s been hit. At least I’m self-isolating with my husband, whose own ailing mother looks at him with accusing eyes and stolid silence during video calls, as if he orchestrated the virus to get in the way of visiting her. I know for most of us this has not been a time of unwinding, or “recalibrating” as the media puts it, but a time of stress and anxiety for things that are out of our control. Friends and colleagues share these worries about their parents and families who are far from them and we compensate as best we can. When I can’t stand the dread and worry any more, I send off an email to my sister and I read her responses over and over to assess what she’s not telling me. And then today, at around 11am, the universe smiled at me and I get positivity fromanunexpectedsource.
From:
Mom-in-Oz
To:
Lynne_Ann@mail.com
Sent:
Mon, 30 March 2020 11:14:25 (AEDT)
Subject: Re: Online
HI LYNNE SURPRISE - you were not expecting this right? I am thrilled to be sending you my first email. I’m finally online. Your six-year-old niece first inspired me to get this right! YES, IT TOOK AROUND 3 hours via a Zoom call for her to get it right, but we have time! Nothing to do during lockdown!
I cried after reading her email, not only because she’d had to pass this milestone without my help but because of how much hope it gave me. My
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