Family in the Age of Coronavirus
Welcome to my (new) world!
The lovely people in this photo are three members of the Pakistani family with whom I am living in Epping, Australia -- Huma (38, the mother), Aroush (7, the daughter) and Ali (31, the brother of Huma).
When I first moved in to their home on February 22, it was your basic AirBB situation. I was the "guest" who came and went with very little interaction with my hosts, me wanting to respect their privacy and they wanting to respect mine. We had a cordial relationship.
Then, as the coronavirus situation heated up and my stay in Australia extended, the game changed. The four of us found ourselves in a new paradigm -- it becoming very evident that life (or Allah) had brought us together to be of support to each other. Whatever "walls" existed between us at the beginning (i.e. AirBB guest/host, Pakistani/American, Muslim/Jew etc.) disappeared quickly.
Now, we are a sweet little family. I shop for groceries. Huma cooks great Pakistani meals. Ali does home schooling with Aroush and prepares the tea. I teach all three of them how to juggle. We have storytelling time. They invite me to watch Pakistani soap operas in Urdu (help!). We watch some of Prem's Lockdown talks. I coach Huma and Ali on some projects of theirs. My fee? Two chocolate chip cookies.
Isn't it amazing the kind of unexpected twists and turns that take place in our lives? The plot keeps changing. The location and actors, too. But there are definitely recurring themes that weave their way through all the plays we find ourselves in: letting go... resilience... adaptability... kindness... humor... challenge... love... learning... and, in the end, realizing that no matter what our external differences may be, we are all the same on the inside.
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