Dear PiePie,
You wouldn’t remember this when you’re older, but when you were really, really small, there was a period of time when you didn’t leave the house for months. Outside the house doors, one of the worst pandemics that anyone can ever remember was raging on.
You will read about the numbers – which as I write, stands at 2.8 million confirmed cases and more than 190,000 deaths. You will read about the aftermath – how it shaped the psyche of a generation in ways that I cannot predict now. But beyond the serious-sounding numbers and serious-sounding implications, I hope you read the stories and accounts of individuals that will invariably emerge from this period.
These stories will make you realise the fragility of human life. They will break your heart. They will make you cry.
A saying goes, “a single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” I hope we don’t miss the trees in the forest. Every death is someone’s father, mother, son, daughter, grandpa, grandma. And many more, all over the world, are put out of work, wondering where the next meal will come from or how to pay for the current month’s rent.
But these are the stories that truly tell the tale of these times. And they are the stories that will show you the kindness and strength that individuals can find deep within themselves when the need calls for it.
I hope these stories give you hope in humankind, but more than that, I hope these stories provide a reminder that everyone has a story. The nameless face that sat across from you in the train. The Starbucks barista who took your order correctly but renamed you on the cup. The famous singer whom you are crazy about. Your teacher who is boring and looked like he never had fun. Your friend. Your enemy. Mom. Me.
We all have a story that we are living out. As are you. And these stories shape us with every new page and with every new chapter that is written.
When someone does something incomprehensible, something that that makes you mad, something that causes you to caricature them into labels, I can only hope that these stories serve as a reminder that there might be a story you don’t yet know about. A story that may not make what they did right, but may make it understandable.
You may still be hurt after. You may still be mad after. And that is ok.
But do try to listen. Who knows, another light might just emerge.
Love, Dad