Happy Birday
THE word for 2020 might be: Improvise. And it seems to apply everywhere.
Saturday was my birthday …and it was … different. My first Pandemic birthday! Have you had one yet?
I’m a huge lover of birthdays. It’s a nostalgia I embrace, a ritual I love. Normally, I’d have plans to go out for dinner, or to a movie, a museum, live music. Not this year.
This year I celebrated with a very long walk, then ate my favorite ice cream while taking birthday calls from friends. In the afternoon, I met a friend for coffee, socially distanced — via FaceTime. She and her little girl surprised me with a cake —several dozen candles pressed into bright pink icing. When they sang Happy Birthday to me — her little voice was so sweet — I cried. Partially for the tender moment, and partially, I think, for the weight of this overwhelming year.
The little girl licked each candle as she pulled them from the cake (it was chocolate!). Then she tilted the top towards the camera so I could read it: HAPPY BIRDAY it said.
Are you feeling huge gaps this year between what was, what is, and what we would like? I feel the sadness, the losses…..And yet, I aspire to….Accept. Adapt. Evolve.
What rituals are you improvising this year?