I may have whispered a prayer that Spring Break would extend through my March 23rd birthday.
…SORRY…
I didn’t expect a Proclamation:
“ Mass Gathering: Social, community, spiritual, religious, recreational, leisure, and sporting gatherings and events of more than 10 people are hereby prohibited at all locations and venues, including but not limited to parades, festivals, conventions, and fundraisers. Planned large gatherings and events must be canceled or postponed until after termination of this disaster.”
My family is large…so celebrating with them was prohibited…and I’d be working from home, which is quite possibly a new level of purgatory for the single, extrovert who is an enneagram 7. This was long before the drive-by parades and quippy t-shirts came out, so there wasn’t much time to get creative: pajama pants, a ‘joie de vivre’ shirt, faux fur stole and, of course, my tiara.
In spite of my celebrations being canceled or postponed {is ‘canceled’ listed first because that’s what’s expected?}, there were at-home deliveries of flowers, real mail with cards in colored envelopes, phone calls, and shout outs during video conferencing and social media. I kind of forced my family into a video conference…it wasn’t perfect, but we were all learning to connect and celebrate in unconventional ways.
I considered scheduling a birthday do-over, but decided to follow my mother’s approach to birthdays: celebrate as often as you can. My parents’ gift that I unwrapped for my birthday in 2019 was reminiscent and heartwarming…I wonder if I should add the disaster t-shirt to the gift bag?
