One year ago, on March 1, my husband, my 87-year-old father, and I boarded a KLM flight from Chicago to Tanzania (via Amsterdam) for a two-week African safari. After a year of planning and excited anticipation, we were about to experience the most marvelous part of creation we had ever witnessed (except for having kids?).

We saw lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, cape buffalo, and hippopotamus so close to our vehicle that I didn’t need my Nikon zoom lens most of the time. My cell phone took stunning photos (iPhone 8+, for those wondering).

On the Serengeti plain, thousands of zebras and wildebeests thundered around us on their annual migration north, braying and bellowing as they ran. Hyenas, meerkats, warthogs, and yellow-billed hornbills made The Lion King come to life.

This was bliss—as close to Eden as we could come. Far away from civilization in the African bush, we were unaware of what was thundering and spreading across the globe at a breath-taking pace, literally.

Covid-19.

Continue reading Part 1 on Different Dream blog.

Thank you, Jolene Philo, for welcoming my writing on your site for parents of kids with special needs/disabilities.