We capture pictures from inside our homes on our devices and post them on Instagram.
We send Whatsapp messages and make online sticky note cards for friends on their birthday.
We start yet another Zoom meeting and, during Internet instability, we smile and say, “Interesting” in response to something we didn’t really hear.
We surf our news apps and Twitter for the latest buffoonery and buzz.
We pray that our fellow citizens will learn from history so we won’t have to repeat it.
This is what the living do during a pandemic.
But sometimes we remember when we used to hug and kiss each others’ cheeks, and talk for an hour after church, eating samosas and cookies. We remember moments of hearty laughter around the table with breakfast and a shared pot of tea. We remember singing praises together in church, chock full of people of all nations, but one in Christ. We remember sitting around a bonfire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. We remember gatherings at your house with all of us there, eating, singing, laughing, praying. We remember late night talks without masks.
We remember and we wait, for this is what the living do.
Remember, we will do it again.
Today is day 203 in Bahrain’s Covid-19 time, Tuesday’s Slice of Life, and Prompt #109 in The Isolation Journals by Suleika Jaouad and inspired by Marie Howe‘s poem, “This is What the Living Do.”