3 Ginger Snaps

This is the face of my recent Grade 8 graduate right as she walked out the door with 4 devilled eggs. She was on her way to her grandparents house, full of pride and confidence, to share the delicious mayo and mustard egg yolk goo that we oo’d and ah’d over at dinner tonight. She’d never made devilled eggs before but she followed the Joy of Cooking recipe to the letter (except for the salt – which she reduced to a “pinch”). I don’t know where she got the chutzpah to try something of this nature – I’m not sure I had it at 13 – and I’m both glad and proud that Charlotte does. The results were truly admirable.

I have vivid memories of the day she was born. My entire mind rewired in an instant. She spent a few days in an incubator with some foggy breathing and I’d never been that scared about anything before. This brand new little bundle. Considerably better off than clinging to life but not quite ready to tackle it on her own yet either. And then: devilled eggs. Plus an indescribable amount of delicious mayo and mustard egg yolk goo smeared over and hardened on the stove and counter top.

I’ve been trepidatious about writing on this blog during the COVID-19 pandemic. For me – for our family – life has been nothing short of glorious. Dinner together every night. Bird watching. Lots of time in the garden. Bike rides. The entire Star Wars saga (ok – the entire Star Wars saga and The Mandalorian). I know that many are suffering and I’m full of gratitude for the fact that we, and the ones we love, are not. All that said – I’ve spent the better part of four months not writing here against impulse because I Felt cautious describing life being good when others were in the throes of life being tough. Removing delicious goo from the stove and counter gave me time to think and today I feel compelled to cast that caution aside.

There was a funeral today for Karolina Ciasullo, 37, and her children Klara, 6, Lilianna, 4, and Mila, 1. The mother and three daughters were killed in a head-on collision by a driver who has since been charged with “dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death”. More details will follow and I will have to decide whether to follow the grim unpacking of this tragedy and struggle with the injustice or let it go. I am thinking now only of their husband and father, Michael Ciasullo, who I presume up until a few days ago, held dear to a reality not unlike my own. There will be no Grade 8 graduation. No Star Wars saga. No devilled eggs.

Lessons from COVID-19 will be many and far reaching in scope. The pandemic will shine a light on emergency and health policy, equity in health care, preparedness in an ever changing world, and our ability as humans to collaborate with one another. What will it teach us about the value of life, how we choose to spend our time together, or, quite simply, slowing down?