One Year

My son has just had his first birthday, it wasn’t the celebrations we envisaged but the lockdown meant we had to stay at home. We received parcel after parcel, from all over the World, he was spoilt rotten. The day started with a mini photo shoot with all his presents, a few FaceTime calls followed and then finishing off with some cake. Maybe we will make up for it after the pandemic.

His first year of life started and ended in similar circumstances, stuck at home. As Chinese traditions dictates, mother and child must stay in confinement for a month following birth. The idea is that they both need the time to recover, particularly the mother. That’s three of the twelve months since he’s been born, he’s been asked to remain inside. My son would have started day care by now, but instead we are watching him grow as both my partner and I work from home.

It has been a rollercoaster year, well for us the parents anyway. Liverpool winning the Champions League in his very first football match. My grandma, his great grandmother, passing away over in Hong Kong before getting the chance to meet him. This meant that we were unable to celebrate his full moon, where following the full month of confinement, mother and child are presented to friends and family with a celebration. The reason being that it apparently brings bad luck to celebrate during the period of mourning.

My son attended his first wedding at just 8 weeks old and received more attention than the bride herself. We celebrated his 100th day, as a replacement for his full moon. Two more trophies followed quickly for Liverpool. My son celebrated his first Chinese New Year and received a ridiculous amount of lucky red packets (full of money). My sister gave birth to a boy over in Hong Kong. Liverpool went on this amazing unbeaten run in the Premier League and are whiskers away from winning the league.

Then… lockdown.

Becoming a Microsoft Teams and Zoom expert. My cousin having a baby girl down in London, two more babies in the wider Chan family expected this year. My great uncle passing away after a long illness. My wife’s grandad passing away unexpectedly. Not being able to physically attend either of their funerals. I guess even if the coronavirus never happened, we still wouldn’t have been able to have a proper birthday party for our son, as it was too close to the family deaths…

RIP