Idrissa Simmonds (fiction ’19) Has an Essay in the Current Issue of VOGUE

In a Year of Multiple Pandemics, Finding a Parenting Philosophy in the Idea of Black Enchantment

My son has a cold for the first time in his fifteen months of life. The COVID-19 lockdown in our city has coincided with the length of his existence, creating the sort of bubble that has kept us away from daycare, playgrounds, and all other places where viruses make their way to the tiny bodies of children. For these fifteen months, he has passed through his developmental milestones blissfully uninterrupted—or, as much as possible in the hovering presence of the adults who love him.

But despite our precautions, a cold virus found its way in, first hitting my daughter before spreading to me and my son. Ever since its arrival he has stomped around the house with his face scrunched into a frustrated knot. Multiple times throughout the day he toddles over to where I sit working, demanding to be lifted into my lap. If his father scoops him away he dissolves into pissed-off screams. A stuffy nose, sneezing, and a mild fever have interrupted his formerly uninterrupted self: joyful, ever-smiling, and curious. In love with tumbling on the couch and being tossed into the air. The cold follows him like a shadow, something he can’t shake.  

Read the complete essay at this link: https://www.vogue.com/article/parenting-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR29KN0qyna3ssAnlkIIb8AsH-eQD3VTJRuOw8t5OxK8gzHpvHu4IG7XE_w