One Fine Morning...

The illness that has become a pandemic affecting every country in the world began for us in January 2020, a couple of weeks after we arrived. At first, it was just a part of a conversations, like the one we had at our neighbors home when we were their guests at a Chinese New Year Luncheon. At that time, there were some cases that were in Singapore, but in very small numbers. Life as we knew it didn't change for many weeks, though the news began covering the story more closely and the daily count of cases in Singapore became something I was aware of and began to follow. By February, the virus was spreading. There were discussions about what could happen if the numbers spiked, but Singapore seemed to really have everything in hand. We worried, but not too much. Gradually, some things in our daily routine began to change, like experiencing temperature screenings at at places like the Marina Bay Sands and Trent's office building. Soon I began having to fill out a temperature...

Moving to Singapore brought with it a certain level of celebrity that was fun for each member of our family for a long time. Lillian in particular seemed to relish in letting people know she was leaving New York for a fabulous and far away country called Singapore. As a well-known member of her school community, Lillian really took the school by storm in letting them know she was off on a grand adventure. All through the months of waiting for the paperwork to be completed, that thrill of something new and the "oh wow!" that inevitably followed the explanation that we were moving to Singapore propelled Lillian through the waiting period. Even though she had no idea what living here really meant, the idea of it was novel and exciting, and for a long time, that was enough. We arrived in January and from the glorious plane ride over to the fulfillment of my children's dreams to live in a hotel, the notion of Singapore continued to be in total agreement with Lillian. Sh...