Grammy, I’m the Loneliest Person In My Family Thanks to the Virus

Another story from Cambria and her grandmother

Every day since the pandemic separated them and caused their world to shut down, Cambria and Grammy have video chatted. Grammy usually reads a story while Cam draws, colors, and hopefully listens.There is a sizable stack of finished books next to our computer. Oh yes, I am Cam’s Papa, and overheard this conversation yesterday morning:

“How are things today sweet pea?”

“Same old boring life Grammy. Nothing changes. Very little to do.”

“But Cam, didn’t you enjoy it when Papa and I met you and your Dad at the zoo the other day?”

“ That was all right, but it only lasted a short time. And now that I know how the animals feel being all caged up, I can’t have as much fun seeing them like that. I feel sorry for them.”

“Cam the signs at the zoo said that most of the animals will live longer there than if they were in the wild.”

“Grammy, you should understand better than that. Would you like to be happy for a short while, or miserable for a long time? They have feelings and families like us. Being shut in is never a good thing.”

“ Well you are lucky to be with your mother and father and brother who love you, even if home does feel a little like a cage at time.”

“But it is not the same for me as it is for the rest of my family. I’m the loneliest and littlest. Mom and Dad talk to people from their work all the time, and Tal is playing video games with his friends for hours each day. Even before the school year was over, Tal was pretty happy with remote teaching since he hates school anyway. The less contact he had with teachers, the better he felt. Me, I liked being in school and making new friends. Unlike Tal, I was new to this school, and didn’t have many friends yet. And I liked my teacher, she made me feel special.”

“Cam, things will get better.”

“Saying that, and wishing for it, won’t make it come any sooner Grammy. When will all the smart people in this world get us a vaccine so I can have my life back?”

“ That is something no one can answer. So best that we can do is focus on what you can do to make your life a little bit more interesting each day. One idea that I had was to learn to play some games that we could do together on our computers. I could ask Papa to join us, and maybe even Tal can be talked into joining us for some of them. How is that for a start?”

“ It sounds better than me just sitting here moping and whining, though I’ve gotten very good at doing both of those.”

“ Let’s start now. Go get out your game of checkers, and I’ll get mine. We can begin as soon as we are both ready.”

“Grammy, you are the best! I’m always a little less sad after talking with you. Who knows, I might even surprise you with a laugh one day soon.”

Thanks for reading! Here’s the first installment: