Although the plague prevented me from having a destination 50th birthday getaway, I’ve still managed to have a wonderful, protracted celebration, thanks to family and friends.
Besides, going to dinner the Saturday before my birthday, then taking the day off for my actual birthday and a Zoom celebration with fellow Virgos, my mother and a nephew, I received a few delivered birthday gifts.
First up was a care package from one of my cousins.
First up was a care package from one of my cousins. In addition to lounge wear, and a $25 money order, she also included a $25 gift card to Longhorn Steakhouse. The gift card furthered my pursuit to try a different restaurant every week while in quarantine. I’d never dined at this restaurant prior to the plague, so it was truly a treat to pick up for Friday lunch.
Since I believe in leftovers, I only ate a small part of the steak the first day, but I polished off that lobster tail in one sitting. I enjoyed steak and eggs with fries for Saturday and Sunday brunch.
Next, a good friend who I’ve not seen in years sent an essential oil diffuser.
Years ago, I had a diffuser and when I moved, I donated it for lack of use. This time around, I’ve used the diffuser every day. Can’t go wrong using something that adds to self care while Rona’s here.
Then a delivery person came one day during the middle of my live-streamed yoga class.
I called to my roommate, who was on the phone in her room with the door closed, that her delivery had arrived and continued with class. I felt so bad when she received the package and told me that a friend had sent ME a box scones. What a lovely breakfast treat.
My sister had warned that her birthday card to me would be late.
I didn’t realize that she was making it herself. It arrived heavily taped up.
Once I opened the first envelope, there was another envelope inside the card, containing a crisp $20 bill.
Of all things! Against many warnings not to send money through the mail, her card defied the odds and had made it through the ever-worsening USPS.
Again, I got myself another Friday birthday treat. At that point, October had begun.
Nonetheless, it’s always wonderful to celebrate even if it’s a belated birthday or just the end of the week or beginning of a new month.
A truly unexpected gift arrived the day I bought my grapefruit vodka.
One of my Rouletters sent me a box filled with nostalgia and sentiment, mostly from my show. The T-shirt bore the last three words of one of my poems, describing myself, which he stated served as a reminder of who I am as I enter my sixth decade. The book, which wasn’t officially a birthday gift, was full of pictures of me dressed up while hosting the Roulette. He’d meant to give it to me at the last Roulette, but it arrived at his house afterwards.
Then there were the beads. Here’s the explanation he wrote about the beads:
“These beads go by many names. I first learned the name decades after I got them on my 5-year hitchhiking trip after I got out of the Navy. I was in a grocery store and a woman stopped me and asked me about my Job’s Tears necklace. After decades of wearing them that was the first time I ever heard “Job’s Tears.”
Once I got that, I researched them online. It’s binomial name, Coix lacryma-jobi, also known as “Adlay millet.” It is native to Southeast Asia, but is cultivated in warmer climates around the world , including Southern US. Job’s Tears has many uses, including jewelry, rosaries, rattles, teething toys and musical instruments.
It is the only bead created by Nature Herself. The way it grows the hole is natural. The nature color ranges from a deep brown to off white. The colors are all dyed, which takes some effort. I found them for sale in jewelry, but could not find them in bulk.
I finally found a woman in Soweto, South Africa that was selling by the quarter pound. I bought the 11 bags she had. I made this 300-bead necklace for your 50th birthday. Buddhists and Orthodox Christians both have 300-bead prayer ropes. In Tibet, they are called Vaijayanti Malas mostly used by monks or those on years’ long pilgrimages.”
All in all, these gifts helped in some form of self care: good food, relaxation, humor and prayer. Four things I wish to carry forward for the rest of my life, especially when the entire world is undergoing a shared trauma.