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(This post was written two months ago. I’m publishing it today as a part of my commitment to “Document the Days” of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.)
It was my sister’s birthday. As we gathered as a family on our zoom call to wish her a happy day, I asked her what she was doing special for her birthday. After all, they lived in beautiful Florida. Surely, there were some fun things to do there to celebrate birthdays.
Although she had plans with her husband and kids, the planning was quite limited. It didn’t include her usual gathering of friends around her to celebrate. It didn’t include dinner at her favorite restaurant, a massage at the local salon, or shopping at her favorite store.
Her birthday would be spent at home, a bit quieter than usual.
Three Celebrations!
I’m guessing that some of you reading this also had a “quarantine birthday.” Here at our house, we experienced three birthdays during total lockdown in Spain.
It began with my husband’s birthday on March 20, 2020, followed by Robert’s 20th birthday on March 26, 2020, followed by Timothee’s 22nd birthday on April 17, 2020.
We still aren’t sure how long this global pandemic will last, or if there will be a second wave. Our family may hit a few more “pandemic birthdays” along the way.
Celebrating birthdays in lockdown certainly required some creativity.
No Restaurants Open!
For my husband, we would have typically gone out for lunch or dinner at a favorite, chosen restaurant. He is French and loves to eat, so good food is always a welcomed gift!
With Robert arriving safely from the U.K. on March 18, 2020 after his university closed, we had the whole family together. This, too, was already a special, and unexpected, birthday gift for Vincent.
If things had been “normal,” we would have gone to a local Moroccan restaurant—our family’s favorite—to celebrate Vincent’s birthday.
That obviously wasn’t an option.
Rather, with the help of some dear friends who helped me brainstorm some creative ideas, my 7-year-old and I decided to create a “Moroccan restaurant” at our house.
If we couldn’t go to one, then we would make one ourselves!
Homemade is Better
I pulled out our family’s favorite Moroccan recipe, s’fa—with vermicelli noodles, chicken, ginger, cinnamon, cumin . . . . topped with powdered sugar, cinnamon, and grilled almonds. Yummy!
Pierre and I painted signs in Arabic to put on the walls. We named our restaurant, “Dar Habibi”—“House of My Beloved.” We sang and wished Daddy “Happy Birthday” in Arabic, French, English, and Spanish.
Before the party began, we made Vincent hide in our bedroom. In the meantime, we turned on some festive Moroccan music, and Pierre and I dressed up in fun Moroccan attire.
Pierre had handmade a special invitation for Daddy. He went to the bedroom door, knocked, and invited him down for a special birthday celebration at “Dar Habibi.”
We drank a glass of champagne, enjoyed s’fa, and ended the evening with Moroccan mint tea with brownies and ice cream (made by all four boys!).
It was actually more enjoyable and more memorable than going to the local Moroccan restaurant. It is certainly a birthday celebration that we will never forget.
Give the Boy Steaks!
Six days later, it was time for Robert’s birthday celebration. Normally, he would have been back at his university in England, celebrating his special day with good friends over fish ’n chips and a beer in a local pub. Rather, he was stuck inside the four walls of our house in Spain—with his parents and three brothers!
It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, but we needed to make the most out of our unforeseen circumstances.
After asking him to plan his favorite meal—steaks, steaks, and more steaks—we went to work again, racking our brains for creative ideas.
Vincent was able to find some enormous, fresh-cut steaks to grill at the local butcher, French fries, and salad. That’s what Robert wanted! I got to work with Pierre making the “chosen” Oreo cookie cake.
We used the same idea of “making a home restaurant.” This time it was with painted signs of “The American Café,” since the meal was quite “American.”
While eating birthday cake, we all sat in the living room watching birthday videos and pictures that I had compiled that week of Robert’s 20 years of life. It was so much fun—lots of laughter!
We ended the evening with a family game of Monopoly that lasted until 1:30 a.m. I had managed to find and buy on Amazon the Spanish version of Monopoly, so we learned some language while we struggled to read the game cards.
Robert loves Monopoly, and our game boards are still in our storage in France, so that was one of his special gifts.
Two Down, One to Go!
One more birthday to come a few weeks later.
Once again, Timothee would not have chosen to celebrate his 22nd birthday with his parents and three little brothers. Sometimes, however, there is no choice.
This year was one of them.
There was a lot of disappointment for him, because he had already purchased his airplane ticket to go to northern Germany where his old university was. He had graduated last June 2019, and this birthday was going to be a reunion and celebration with all of his college buddies.
Flight cancelled. Trip cancelled. Celebration cancelled.
Birthday NOT cancelled!
Not Cancelled!
We made his birthday special with his favorite meal of grilled hamburgers, French fries, and Angel Food Cake. Again, we watched his birthday videos and pictures and got some belly-aching laughs.
Quarantine birthdays . . . quarantine anniversaries. Yes, creativity is much-needed.
For our 24th wedding anniversary, I took our family on a virtual trip. I was super excited. My kids were not. In the end, they learned a lot and had more fun than they had imagined.
Creativity.
My birthday is coming up in August. Hmmm . . . wonder what the world will be like then and what kind of celebration I will have?
Just in case, I sure hope my husband and boys will be creative in planning my party! 🙂
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
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Did your birthday fall in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, or perhaps someone you know? How did you creatively celebrate?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures!” Write about them in the comment box below.
