I went for a solitary bike ride yesterday at the local county park, and something was nudging at me to cut it short and return home.
As soon as I walked into the house, I knew why. Our daughter Michelle had called and put Lyla on Face Time. They were in their back yard. Kyle and Michelle had recently installed a new patio and a lush green lawn. When the call was made, Lyla was seated on the ground next to Michelle. She was picking up some smooth, polished black edging stones around the water hose which Michelle had running at low-drip. Lyla was washing them with a single-minded focus of a jeweler. Every once in a while, she would stand up and walk confidently to the side door of the garage where Kyle was working on a home project and she would wave, then come back to her own little project.
Like millions of grandparents across America, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we haven’t been able to see Lyla. Michelle and Kyle were responsible enough early on to Shelter in Place to keep her and us safe. Cecile and I made a cameo appearance about a month ago when we brought some groceries for Michelle and Kyle, and some gifts for Lyla. We kept our distance by standing outside the white picket fence way beyond the 6-foot minimum recommended while Michelle was holding Lyla at the top of the front porch who was smiling and waving at Nonnie and Papa.
It seems like ages ago when we used to regularly drive up to Redwood City to help babysit Lyla. Cecile would leave our home by 7 AM to beat the traffic and I would Uber up later in the morning. Cecile and I would return home in her car later in the afternoon. Thanks to continued breakthroughs in contemporary technology, video conferencing like Skype, Face Time, and Zoom, we can now visit with Lyla, virtually.
Not being to hold her, hug her, and kiss her has made our heartache. We also miss her visits to our home and the occasional weekends she stayed with us when the kids had to go out of town. It seems trivial to complain about being sad when so many people are sick and dying, and out of work. Virtual chats are good, but clearly not the same.
Nothing compares to reading books and playing together and taking her out for a walk to the community park. Cecile is a great animated story reader. Lyla just glows when Nonnie reads to her, making the stories and the characters and animals come alive. Some of the books are many of the childhood classics we read to Michelle when she was a baby.
Michelle has taught Lyla how to sign, when she wants “more,” as in more stories she knocks the sides of her loosely held fists together. Cecile mirrors or gives voice to her request by asking if she wants more. “Yeah!" she responds quickly and gleefully.
We seem to be missing out on all the little incremental changes. It sounds so cliché, but Lyla fills a part of our hearts that we didn’t know was empty. We miss her so much. But, if there is a silver lining during this pandemic, Michelle and Kyle have been able to take shifts to care for Lyla and witness those changes that fill a parent’s heart with joy.
As for Nonnie and Papa, we can’t wait until the big bad wolf of this pandemic retreats so we can physically embrace, hug, snuggle, and kiss our sweet, little Lyla again.
