Many families today are like their own little diasporas, scattered across states, countries, and continents in search of better education and career opportunities. Warnings about the increased risk of exposure during travel present a special predicament for people like Wright who live hundreds or thousands of miles away from their families and friends. “Why jeopardize everything? You just gotta wait it out and see what happens, and pray and hope for the best.”Īs more employers and schools encourage people to stay home, people across the country find themselves videochatting more than they usually might: going to meetings on Zoom, catching up with clients on Skype, FaceTiming with therapists, even hosting virtual bar mitzvahs. “I cannot be that selfish grandma- I really want to see my grandson!” Wright told me this week. So for now, Wright and her family spend time together through their phones on Duo, the Google videochatting app. More than 70 people have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, in Florida so far, and Wright, a certified nursing assistant who works with elderly patients, knows well the precautions people must take to stem the spread of the disease. But the family has decided that they shouldn’t travel, because of the coronavirus outbreak, which continues to spread quickly across the United States and around the world. Wright’s daughter was supposed to visit her mom in Florida in early April so that August could finally meet his grandma. She lives in Tallahassee, and her grandson is in Toronto. Wright does this from more than 1,000 miles away. Wright loves seeing August’s eyes light up at the sound of her voice. She croons Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song”: “Day-o, day-o, daylight come and me wan’ go home.” Sometimes she throws in a little Bob Marley, and dances along. Karen Wright loves to sing to her three-month-old grandson, August.
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