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For half of the pandemic so far I was living with my parents in England. The second half was with my sister and her family in New Jersey. The first half was spring and summer in Hertfordshire, the second was autumn and the infamous American North East winter.

Differences in time, temperature and wildlife aside, there鈥檝e been a few consistent things that have threaded through the whole experience 鈥� and I think video calling tops that list.聽

And of all the video calling 鈥� one kind, has ruled them all! My two year old nephew calling up to ask 鈥榗an you read a book?鈥櫬�

Whether they鈥檙e in the middle of cooking, or out on walk, for a year now my parents have been at his beck and call to read to him on video. They鈥檝e got a stack they work through and add new ones occasionally, though he seems to like reading the same ones again and again, learning the rhymes and rhythms of the words. If he can鈥檛 get through to them he鈥檒l call my brother AKA Uncle Mali, or other relatives who are kind enough to be on call for story time!

Even though he sometimes watches cartoons, he seems to prefer being read a book鈥�happier with drawings that don鈥檛 move because there鈥檚 a person on the other side to do all the voices (usually my parents are saved when the battery dies but otherwise, it鈥檚 another and another one please!)聽

Watching him acquire new words; repeat his favourite lines, and just hold an unbreakable attention span has made me reflect on how important stories are. My childhood was jam packed with them鈥� everything from Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl to ancient epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. I drank them in, and they brought imagination, meaning and new words into my life.聽

Withdrawn into our safe spaces, it feels like words and voices 鈥� just the ability to communicate, take on new, precious significance. I鈥檓 grateful for language and the chance to see it seed and sprout in this one little person in my life. I cherish the stories of hope and courage I鈥檝e heard through this time, and the voices that carry me to another world for a while.聽

And I can鈥檛 wait til the time, when we can tell each other our own stories again, finally, face to face.