Page 44 - FDCC Pandemic Book

Living in a Pandemic: A Collection of Stories on Coping, Resilience & Hope
specific danger, an invisible virus associated with proximity to other people. It seems a challenge for those fears to subside. Will we be able to return to the old ways? I catch myself gasping in shock at scenes in movies of parties with people standing closely together, indoors, conversing, eating and drinking, while servers pass around cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on trays. Many of my happiest memories include such scenes, but now I can’t imagine feeling comfortable so close to others or eating food from someone’s tray. Those days seem so long ago.
Back then, we looked forward to gatherings with friends and loved ones for a special birthday. People traveled from near and far to honor the important day. It has been hard on those who have “celebrated” some milestone birthday in the age of COVID.
Social media has helped to spread the word within communities of alternative forms of festivities. An elderly aunt turned 94 this past summer, and her children and grand-children orchestrated a drive-by birthday party via Facebook. They invited family, church friends and others to pass by the house while she sat in a lawn chair in the front yard, wearing a “birthday girl” sash, feather boa and tiara. She was thrilled with the attention, but the lack of human connection was disheartening.
Some choose to announce a birthday with a yard sign. They include birthday wishes and décor reflecting an interest or hobby of the celebrant. Baseball gloves and soccer balls, or ballerina slippers and cheerleading pompons positioned on either side of the message sharing with the world passing by an impression of the special person.
Strangely, the pandemic has enriched relationships in some ways. It has given those who are distanced physically a yearning to reach out and reconnect in new ways. I will confess that prior to the pandemic I had never heard of Zoom, except as a teeth whitener. However, in the last year, it has become ubiquitous, even being used as a verb. With this technology, many have moved their parties online.
My best friend from childhood lives in another state. We typically call and send each other birthday cards (snail mail) on our special day. This year, she needed something more, so she organized a Zoom birthday with friends from all over the country and different aspects of her life– a childhood friend (me), college friends, work friends from multiple jobs spanning decades, and more recent friends, mostly parents of kids from her kids’ school. In advance of the party, she sent everyone chocolates and little umbrellas with which to adorn our cocktails for the party. We played a virtual trivia game based on the birthday girls’ likes and dislikes, to judge who knew her best. If not for some technical difficulties in the vote tallies, I would have won.
For my family’s part, the pandemic birthday posed a real challenge. My husband and I have birthdays within one week of each other with our anniversary sandwiched evenly between. The second week of October typically includes enjoying a splurge
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