The wall in our dining spot was decorated with a paper tassel garland, paper flowers and pompons in rosé, light brown and beige with a hint of gold. The table was extended in all its length and wore a long tablecloth in white and fine golden lines. It was filled with different kinds of salads, tomato-mozzarella skewers with my self-made pesto, hummus and vegetables sticks, different kinds of bread, a selection of dips, different arrangements of cheese plates with nuts, salami and serrano ham, olives and berries. In the middle there was a naked cake with strawberries and long candles in rosé on it with matching the paper plates and cups that I had bought at Sostrene Grene about a month before, along with the wall decoration. Everywhere, there were small vases with peonies and baby's breath. At the right end of the table there was a little bar with a lot of cold rosé wine, sparkling wine, all the ingredients for Aperol Spritz and, of course, some water. All to be served in the champagne goblets with golden edges that my husband had given me for Christmas. The living room and balcony were filled with girl friends, mostly from Colombia and Latin America, that I had known for years or had enjoyed meeting during last year. We were all dressed up for the occasion, all laughing loudly and sometimes dancing or yelling any song from my “Caribe soy” playlist on YouTube. It was a Champagne All Day Party, the best birthday party in a long time. But it didn’t happen.
Instead, a day before, or maybe earlier, you could feel the worry of my husband because I was about to become a year wiser and hotter but a horrible pandemic had locked us down for almost to months by then, so he hadn’t been able to arrange any decoration or anything to make the day special. He knew that this year, I really wanted to throw that party after two years of rather low profile birthdays, that I was dying to get hands on with that decoration and that I love to celebrate my birthday, especially because it is always the first holiday in May..
But, believe it or not, I was way more calm than he was. I told him not to worry about it. After what had happen to me in the last weeks and bearing in mind what was - correction, is - going on out there, I was happy to just be at home with him and the kids and be thankful and celebrate that we are healthy and in peace with everything, that, thank God, and even though as parents we don’t have a calm minute, we have everything we and the children need in times when so many people in the world have been gone too soon. That would be the best present on my birthday and I would take it all in.
The day started very slowly. With my boys singing happy birthday. During the morning I didn't do much. I didn’t want any of us to cook. That day we would order Vietnamese in order to meet my knew nutrition requirements and nevertheless have something different to eat than spinach, chicken breast and potato. A few days before, I had ordered my wished naked cake with berries to be delivered by its Colombian female author. FYI baking is not by cup of tea, so I decided to support local bakers in this times of crisis.
Now we had to wait until four in the afternoon to meet my parents and brothers on zoom to sing Happy Birthday and blow the candles. By the way, I searched the whole apartment but never found the long, glittery candles in rosé I really had bought at Sostrene Grene already in March! Until then and as soon as we finished the Vietnamese feast and until midnight, I didn’t stop answering birthday calls and messages. My phone was so hot I thought it wouldn't make it. I changed clothes and wore a nice blouse and even put make up for the first time in weeks! Then it was four. My parents, my brother and his wife in Barranquilla, my (not so little anymore) brother in Orlando and us four sang Happy Birthday, my dad played some other songs as a serenade for me and we had a nice chat on zoom. My mom had also ordered a cake, a carrot cake, also one of my all time favorites, and blew the candle with me, at nine in the morning on the other side of the ocean.
Then at six in the evening, the whole family from my mother’s side gathered, again, on zoom. Those were the most fun two hours since the beginning of lock down. I laughed so much listening to their stories or watching my uncles and aunts making fun of each other. They made a toast, most of them with beer or wine, me with water (laaaaaame but it is how it is!) and I got to see my ninety three year old grandpa. I felt really lucky. That turned out to be my actual birthday party!
Presents didn’t rain. But Hubs and the kids gifted me with a pair of very cool sneakers. Due to the many weeks in lock down, I had managed to save so much money that I decided to invest in two different cuts of Levi’s jeans, the first ones in my life, in order to put an end to bad fast fashion quality. I also got a nice card and a present just in time before the holiday from my in laws.
But the best present was living that day without any worries, without no stress at all, including the stress of preparing a party, taking it as easy as it could get. I was so happy to talk to all those friends and relatives who found the time to call me. The fact that we had the time to listen to each other and to receive and have the time to answer all the messages without any hurry. The only call I missed was the one of my grandma because she herself doesn't have WhatsApp, so I had to wait until the next day to get the number of her quarantine companion to talk to her. I felt loved, connected, I didn’t need anything else, because they all were there celebrating with me. I felt really blessed to have each of them in my life. So folks, those are the perks of having your birthday during Corona times and actually what celebrating any birthday is about.
And Mother’s day, another very important day in Colombia, was quite the same! Now, let’s see when the Champagne party will come true!