Covid-19 Commemoration A Rainbow Is A Promise

  “A rainbow is a promise  – of sunshine after rain, of calm after storms, 

            of joy after sadness, of peace after pain, of love after loss.”

When schools initially closed in March, my youngest child was sent the above quote. With this in mind, the children were asked  to create a rainbow to display in a window, for everyone to see. We would go on our daily exercise around our local vicinity, and it was a lovely to see these popping up in more windows each day.

As our house in on a busy junction, we tend to put lights up around the trees and shrubs in our drive at Christmas; I would joke that it gave the drivers something to look at as they waited in their cars! Therefore, we thought it would be nice to decorate our main tree with a rainbow, as it was in a position that people pass throughout the day.  We also decided, as well as a rainbow ribbon wrapped around the tree, we would put up the NHS letters - which my daughter coloured in the colours of the rainbow. It was our way of showing that symbol of hope during these testing times, but also a symbol of gratitude to those risking their lives on a daily basis for everyone. We were aware of a few key workers living around us, both in the NHS and other key areas, so we wanted to do something, however small, to show our appreciation. We placed a rainbow in our window as well, but we wanted to make sure we had one where it would always be seen. It took us by total surprise when someone took a picture and posted it – however, we felt so much pride as well because it was being appreciated!

During the lockdown, the story of Captain Tom Moore emerged, and his hope to complete 100 laps of his garden and raise money for the NHS before his 100th birthday. That story completely blew us away, and brought such a ray of hope to us all during such dark times. Every time we heard how much he had collected, we were in absolute awe of this amazing man! As we were now aware that our rainbow tree was being noticed, we decided to put a little homage up to Captain Tom, in time for his milestone birthday. We chose a lovely picture of him, with the quotes, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from his number 1 song, and ‘Not all heroes wear capes’. I strongly felt that along with all the rainbows, his story has been an inspiration to us all. 

As a parent of three, seeing the different ways each child’s school has equipped them for home-learning in such a short space of time has been amazing. A few months ago had someone suggested this, I would have thought it impossible, but now I see my children chatting, learning, having music lessons and PE lessons – all remotely. I also work at the local school, West Lodge Primary, where my elder two were former pupils, and my youngest is still attending. My daughter has not felt isolated at all from friends or teachers – and there has been a concerted effort to maintain a connection. As staff, we have created videos for the children to make them smile, and many classes are now making videos to thank the teachers too. 

So, for us, for now, we continue to follow guidelines. Not seeing family is hard, but we always keep in touch. Prior to this, there was not really any connection between residents on our road, so a friend and I decided to set up a group via Whatsapp. This was to reach out to those who were perhaps more vulnerable, needed help or just a friendly chat. The response has been wonderful, with everyone being extremely appreciative of the group. It now feels like we are a neighbourhood, and that sense of community has really emerged through this. We keep up our daily exercise, and when we do it is lovely to see neighbours or friends, however briefly. Increasingly, we now find most people taking time to acknowledge someone passing by, whether they are a familiar face or not. 

As of yet we do not know how, or when, these restrictions will be lifted, and I feel it is quite a daunting path ahead. However, on a daily basis we remind our children that we need to appreciate all the positives that there are, and I believe there are many. Nonetheless, the hope is that when we do return to ‘normality’ we learn from what we have experienced, because there may well be a new sense of norm.

By Sarika