This is the era of COVID-19. A horrific experience like none in my life. It has shocked, terrified, and killed. My fear for my family has permeated my daily life. I am old and not wishing to die, but certainly accepting of its inevitability. My life has been full.
But my adult son and daughter have much life still to live. Watching the challenges they continue to encounter, fills me with much concern. However, seeing them embrace the ongoing changes so brilliantly, fills me with much hope. My 7-year-old grandson Alex, my son’s boy, while mildly confused by it all, and ready with questions, is maneuvering this new normal — resiliently.
I worry for his education, but he assures me he finds school online with his friends, “kinda fun PaPa!” He answers the zoom “school bell” on his laptop every morning with a smile. He is bursting with learning, always proud to share with me what new he knows today! He, with great support and nurturing from his father and mother, have shown PaPa — love finds a way.
young voice reading warms my heart
fresh snow falls like joy
rob kistner © 2021
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You got it, brother-those are the new beginnings that truly matter. As we fade away, kids & grandkids roll up their sleeves and face the challenges that await them.
We have left them some doozies — but I genuinely have faith brother!
I’ll bet you’re a fun grandfather 😀
Thanks for sharing!
-David
You are do welcome sir! My secret is my love for my Alex!
I love this, it’s a heartwarming tale in the way that we can find new beauty, joy, and experiences in life in spite of current events and the pandemic. How change can be challenging and how we adapt to it to survive, it’s such a powerful message in this poem, along with the solemnity and acknowledgment of what has pushed us to this point. Amazing writing, Rob! I admire your prose-poetic abilities very much.
Ghank you so much Lucy. This one is unveneered from the heart!
I can relate. So much upheaval for my grandkids this past year. And they are far more resilient than me. Well put.
Kids go at life headon, no matter the extenuating circumstances. Resilient!
Your grandson is around the same age as my son, who has also adapted well to the changes. Children are very resilient and I think right now we can all learn something from them!
Hope lives deep and vivid in my Alex. It has an almost electric energy!
I feel the same way, Rob, fearful for my family, and I too am amazed at how the young have adapted to life during the pandemic. How lovely that your grandson shares his learning with you!
Best time of my day when Alex comes and says, “Papa, guess shat I learned todsy” — and he jabbers on in joy about all his discoveries of the day, it’s beautifully cool!!
Your grandson sounds like a delight, Rob! What a sunny personality it seems he has, and I’m glad he’s enjoying school.
Thank you Merril, he is my shining hope!
While i (humbly) realize that at least a few will miss/mourn me, I’m happy that I have not actually created any humans to leave behind.
Trying times indeed, but better days ahead, one hopes.
Great Haibun, RK!
I would miss you Ron, but I feel I may reach the checkered flag before you do sir.
This is a heartwarming haibun….it leaves me with a smile on my face. The title is perfect…and isn’t it true? The resilience of young people is sometimes amazing to behold. As someone else wrote, my guess is you are a wonderful grandfather!
May the vaccine change the world as did the polio vaccine. That is my hope.
Thanks for posting this wonderful haibun. LOVE the haiku that ends it…that fresh snow can be a beautiful sight! 🙂
You are most welcome Lillian! My hope is that COVID-19 becomes something we soon refer to in the past tense.
Grandchildren are such inspiration. They take on life with gusto, while ours is fast waning! I share a lot of your concerns for family. It has been a disconcerting year to say the least!
I enjoyed the music!
Yes Dwight, grandchildren are life’s blessings we do not fully understand until they appear in our lives. I stumbled accross that song while looking for a bit of music I felt appropriate for this poem. It really caught me.
I love the tenderness with which you speak of your grandson, Rob. The accompanying photo is so expressive of how we protect and care for these new little beings in our loves. May they all grow strong and resilient!
Thank you Bev, and amen to that!
* in our lives, that is!
I like bith ways Bev… 🙂
In the midst of uncertainty and pain, you gave us joy in a Haibun.
Every little bit helps. Trying my best Helen, to keep the hope aloft!
The resilience of youth is our hope for tomorrow. I love the optimism that fuels this reflection.
Yes Dora, and thank you…!
I think what concerns me most is the missed education of young people… very few of them are very affected if they get sick… it’s the old people that die. My mother-in-law who is going to be 91 got it but got well in about two weeks… so it’s not all dark.
I have far more faith in the desire and ability for much of our young to learn, as I witness in my grandson Alex. But even he, bright as he is, misses an important element of the social component of peer-group education. Namely, the ability to experience and understand the importance of unmonitored cooperation and the skills of conflict resolution — as well as the dynamic of peer influence. I find these as important as what’s in the pages of text books, and very difficult to grasp and manage while zooming. So it’s the social maturity of our youth that I feels currently suffers the most in this era of COVID-19, and that is a significant debilitation,
How wonderful to have your grandson as a ray of sunshine during these tumultuous times.
It is wonderful Mish, thank you…
Encouraging to hear Alex is rolling with it. That song and video were very relaxing to listen to and watch. Maybe by spring we’ll be out there dancing in the streets 🙂
It has got to get better Lisa.
Rob, a heart touching prose. “Love finds a way” is a wonderful way to see it.
Thank you M Jay… 🙂