Sabotaged by a Monster

When baby Packee was born last fall, I had such plans.  I was going to be there for all those monthly baby milestones--the turning over, the giggling, the sitting up. I was going to see him often and use him as an excuse to spend more time with his brothers and sisters as well.

Packee arrived after a six-year lull in grandkid production. Since he might be the last one, I was going to pinch those fat thighs to my heart's content and once more perform my entire repertoire of silly noises. I would kiss those chubby cheeks and feel the sweet weight of that little head on my shoulder while he slept.

The first four months of my plan went by the playbook. But when I waved goodbye to him on Feb. 1, who would have dreamed it would be months before I would see him again? Worse yet, I don't know how many of these precious months this long wait will stretch out to consume. The monster COVID-19 has changed not only plans but normal daily routine.

That is all the whining I am going to do. I look around and see others affected so much more adversely than is this old lady who just wants to snuggle a grandbaby. Thousands of people are sick, and medical responders are caught up in a rat race. High school seniors are missing those last spring activities, and even graduation ceremonies look uncertain. Weddings and funerals, the rituals of life itself, are on hold. Senior adults in care facilities can't see their families. For many, this pandemic is so much more than a mere inconvenience.

But today, in the midst of all of this, I celebrate the day Packee turns six months old. The highlight of my day is when my daughter texts me pictures like these:

  

I like to think that, in this last one, the reason Packee looks so serious is because he is wondering where his Googie is. Thankfully, he is too little to know about monsters.

I am here, sweet baby, just waiting for the monster to relent so I can come see you again. Until then, stay healthy,  practice your skills of self defense, and warn your brothers and sisters. There are a lot of pent-up squeezes around here just waiting to be released.

Beenie's Birthday Puzzles

Question: What does the Rubik's Cube have in common with the coronavirus?

Answer: They have both been major shaping forces in the celebration of Beenie's birthday.

At first glance, this photo might look like any typical boy getting ready to blow out eight candles atop the red velvet cake his mama made (at his request).

But a closer look at the circumstances surrounding Beenie's eighth birthday reveals more unusual goings-on than meet the eye.

In recent weeks Beenie has been obsessed with the Rubik's Cube, to the point that YouTube videos showing solutions to the famous puzzle top his list of TV-watching preferences. He works patiently and relentlessly to figure out the standard 3 x 3 cube he already has, and has achieved solid color on two sides. His birthday brought him an assortment of other Rubik's-style puzzles, including a 2 x 2 and a triangular variation. The t-shirt Pa-pa and I contributed to his birthday stash says it all: "I make it look easy."

 
Interestingly, the Rubik's Cube is anything but easy. George Webster, writing for CNN in "The Little Cube That Changed the World," asserts that the various turns and twists of the puzzle offer 43 quintillion possible combinations. As a non-math person, I had to look up the term "quintillion." It is a thousand raised to the power of six, times ten to the eighteenth power. Now you know.

Even Erno Rubik, the puzzle's Hungarian inventor, took a month trying to figure out the solution after he concocted the rotating Cube from rubber bands and wood blocks. Intending it solely as a visual aid for his students in interior design, he never meant to create what some call the most popular toy in the world, selling more than 350 million since it was first mass-marketed in the early 1980's.

That was over forty years ago, before Pa-pa and I were even married. We celebrated our thirty-ninth anniversary on March 20, which is also Beenie's birthday. And, unlike most of his and his brother Heero's past birthday celebrations, this one was very small, consisting of only his immediate family and two sets of grandparents. No bounce house. No trip to Chuck E. Cheese. No lively gathering of fellow second-graders.

This is because Beenie's eighth birthday fell victim to the coronavirus and its current restrictions on large-group gatherings. As the number of positive cases continues to escalate daily, the virus is proving to be a puzzle of sorts itself. The countries of the world, like cubes of wood on a common axis, restructure data daily, turning and twisting to try to solve the puzzle the coronavirus imposes. We walk here on new ground. The game plan changes things.

Beenie and the other six grandkids remain insulated from the effects, implications, and what-ifs associated with the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. They are as safe as possible in the homes of caring parents who look out for their health, happiness, and safe-keeping. I am thankful beyond measure for these families, and I look forward to the day we are all together again with this outbreak behind us.

Until then, Beenie Boy, keep working at that Cube. Watch those experts, especially that guy with the record of 3.47 seconds. You might grow up to invent something spectacular or solve some bigger puzzle. Our world will always need people like you.