60 years from now, I imagine myself sitting in my rocking chair with one of my grandchildren. He tells me that in history at school, he is learning about the Coronavirus and his teacher has told his class some things that he is finding quite scary. Hundreds of thousands of people died and there was great suffering and hardship. He is curious to know if I had been around at the time of the great pandemic and if I could tell him more about it from the perspective of someone who lived through it. I will lean back in my rocking chair, smile and reflect on the year 2020, 60 years ago.
The first thing I would tell him would be that whilst it was true that many people did unfortunately die, there were also many positives that arose as a result. We learnt to appreciate the simple things in life; a good book, a long walk in the sunshine, our health and conversation. We became much closer as a family as I got to see my grandparents every week on Zoom, we made time to chat and check-in with each other. It is strange how it took a crisis to pull us much closer together. As a family at home, we used to gather on the sofa under a big warm blanket and watch movies, which we never had the time to do before.
We learnt the value of money; we bought less and found that we could live quite happily with what we had. Instead of going out for dinner, we took it in turns to make it ourselves, which improved our culinary skills no end. I would share with my grandchild that my favourite Victoria sponge that he loves so much, is a recipe that my mother taught me to bake during quarantine.
I would tell him that as well as learning to cook, I also learnt resilience and independence. I did not always have my parents to go to because they were both key workers and therefore committed to helping others. I would share stories of his great aunts and I playing numerous games, skateboarding on the path in front of our house and creating our own movies. From all this, I would tell my grandchild, I learnt that if we all pull together and stay positive, then we can get through the toughest of times and find the sunshine on the other side.
Writing this made me realise how much we rely on others; my future grandchild may one day rely on me to reassure him about things that are out of his control. Likewise, we are currently relying on doctors and nurses to look after us and make us better; we rely on many companies to make vital medical equipment and we rely on the military to ferry them across the country to where they are most needed. Closer to home, we rely on our parents and teachers who are continuing to help us learn all we can, so that one day we can help others too.
Despite the present uncertainty, there is lots to be thankful for. I reflect upon the Queen’s speech when she said, “We’ll meet again,” and look forward to the day when the Sherfield community is back together, sharing the future.
India, Year 8 Pupil