For the first time in five months;
We saw our children and grandchildren in person;
Social distancing in Central Park, masks muffling our voices;
Safely picnic-ing: bring your own food and no food sharing;
For the first time,
The park has become our venue for socializing;
Meet-up dates are subject to no-rain and opening of restrooms;
When caught in burst of shower, we shelter-in-place under trees;
A walk in the park is the ultimate luxury;
We have not eaten out in five months;
And we don’t miss it.
For the first time,
We are taking no vacation this summer;
No Labor Day family gatherings on the Jersey Shore;
No swimming, no beaches, no mountains, no lakes;
No Chautauqua;
We will spend the summer in the city of steel, concrete, & glass;
And find grateful relief in air-conditioning.
For the first time,
I have not missed a Jumma prayer;
I am reading volumes;
My calendar is packed with seminars;
I have reconnected with friends I never had time for;
Tutoring my grandchildren every day;
Zooming in; Zooming out.
For the first time on Eid ul Adha,
We will be home alone,
No Eid prayers in the mosque,
No hugging after prayers,
No sounds of Eid Mubarak,
No waiting in line for the buffet,
Just a wave over Zoom.
For the first time,
We are grateful for just bare necessities;
For each other, our family, our health;
Water, power, a roof, and food;
Gone are the fancy outfits;
Closets de-cluttered;
Good Will in good shape.
For the first time in my lifetime,
Millions of faithful will not be gathering in Mecca for Hajj;
We will not be saying ‘Farewell, have a blessed Hajj’ to our family and friends.
We will not be welcoming back our Hajji friends
We won’t be asking: what was your most spiritually profound moment?
For the first time,
We are on our own pilgrimage;
Leaving our comfort zones;
Staying home;
Reflecting, meditating, re-calibrating;
Redefining our spiritual compass;
Rediscovering what life means to us.
For the first time in a hundred years,
Entire planet is convulsing;
Afflicted or not afflicted, every one affected;
Each responding differently;
The Other’s problem, now our problem;
Bound by a virus in this collective experience.
For the first time.
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