Welcome to the world little one!
You were born in a time when the world stood still. An unprecedented, unexpected, surreal worldwide halt that none of us had ever experienced in our lives, and will likely not experience again. A time of adjustment, of change, of sacrifice and of isolation- a difficult time for most.
But you arrived in the midst of it all, bringing joy and hope and love along with you. You were something to look forward to in dark times, and something new and special to treasure when you arrived. Not just for your parent(s) but for all of their loved ones too.
Those loved ones didn’t get to meet you right away. Not for lack of wanting to- there is nothing they wanted more. But they had to stay away to keep you and your family safe. It must have been so hard for them to have to “meet” you from afar, through a window or on video calls or through shared photos, instead of holding you in their own arms. But just think of how special it will be when they do get to meet you, little one: the most happy, most special and most beautiful of moments it will be.
It might be some time before you go on your first walk through the park, or make your first visit to a cafe or have your first time at a mummy and me group but it won’t be any less special when you do- you’ll still have all those same amazing firsts.
If your family is planning a celebration of your arrival, be it a naming ceremony or a christening or a baby shower it may happen later than planned but it will still happen, and it will be all the more special when it does.
Because you see, little one, when things are around us all the time, we take them for granted. Being able to go for coffee with our friends, plan play dates in the park, hug our parents goodbye or plan big celebrations- when we could do these things as often as we wanted we lost sight of how special they were. And now we’ve been reminded.
My hope for you, little one, and for all of us, is that the world remembers this time. That we stop taking these things for granted and that the new perspective we have found lasts much longer than this pandemic.
Many of us had lost sight of what’s really important: how lucky we are to have our health, our freedom and our loved ones around us. And those are really the only things that matter.
Welcome to the world little one: a changed world, a new world, a world that’s better because you’re in it.
– words & images by Rhiannon Louden // 26.03.2020 // Glasgow, Scotland
