Count Your Blessings

I was sitting at the beach with my parents last weekend. There were people by the beach who had set up their fishing rods and waiting for a catch. The tide was high but none of them caught anything. Even the fish were doing social distancing.

As we sat there, my father told us of his childhood moments, of catching fish, squids and crabs with his friends. I had heard a lot of his stories but I had not heard of his fishing adventures. Or maybe I had forgotten. He told us the different ways of catching different sea creatures, and where you would find them and when. MasyaAllah. I would need to do a lot of research to compile all that information but he got them all at his fingertips because he had lived them. 

When my father walked away and was taking with the fishing guy and my mother was accompanying the girls who were collecting seashells, I let my tears fall. My father had told us his stories as he was probably reminiscing his childhood and the freedom and experiences he used to have. It is a stark contrast to the fear and isolation that our children are made to go through now.

For the school-going kids, they still get to meet friends in school. But for the homeschoolers, it has been a hard blow. We socialise when we meet friends at playdates, co-ops, classes and outings but most have been put on hold, cancelled or moved online. So when people likened home-based learning to homeschooling and said it’s too hard and the kids get bored, please don’t. They are as vastly different as night and day. Homeschooling involves trips to the museum, and to the park and to the zoo, and involves gatherings, and parties and playdates. Homeschooling does not equate to online learning and staying home. Alhamdulillah for technology but we do it for now because we have to. Please do not confuse the two.

And if we all survive this and live long, healthy lives inshaa Allah, I wonder what my children would tell their grandchildren 60-70 years from now. I hope whatever memories they keep of this episode in their lives would only be happy ones - of times playing board games at home, helping mummy to cook and vacuum, pretending to sleep in a camp at the balcony, watching papa work from home and trying not to disturb him, and finally getting screen time at home.

As for me, I’m grateful that we have a roof over our heads, warm meals to eat, and the company of much loved ones. We have our religion, our Prophet ‎ﷺ and our faith. And that after 14 years of wishing, my husband will finally get to work from home inshaa Allah. When we strip away the frivolities of life, there is nothing much that we need to get by. So many others are in much more dire need than us. This dunya is an illusion and the trials in life will expose it for what it is.

Ya Allah ya Rabbi, You have taken away many blessings from our lives in such a short time, yet You have replaced them with many more. Ya Allah, allow us to see these blessings and be grateful for them. Because the only reason we can say Alhamdulillah is because you have allowed us to. So allow us to say it in abundance.

Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah 💚💙