Submission 74

The pandemic really threw everything up in the air for everyone. As a single parent 24/7 to a 11 year old child, I was so aware that my son could become really isolated at a time of his life where he really needed to play and be with other children. We both agreed we had to keep life as normal as possbile together. School and work in the day, and then excerise and play every day. In the parks, out on our bikes riding around the empty city, and then when the lockdowns eased getting out into nature by the sea near London. I remember this moment well. It felt surreal and biblical, with all that we had been going through, yet it was an utterly normal moment of a group of children who didnt know one another just playing in the water together at the end of the day. Connection is so important when you are in the struggle. Humans need other humans.

amelia troubridge