Pandemic Birthday
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Ninety-three thousand, six hundred and one, today, confirmed deaths in the country in which I live. Soon, over 100,000 in our U.S. will have passed away. Most likely more, the number surely lower than the actual count, for lack of testing or cause of death untold. Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday, 66. We are at the beach, social distancing indoors and out. Are we safe from each other? A dangerous birthday celebration, how could this be? Yet it is. Our daughter and her boyfriend wear their masks, six feet away, as they dance around the kitchen, make a birthday feast for four.
Dear God, thank you for birthdays, another year, another day of life upon this earth. Thank you for our children, finding their way, in this new world, working from home, in quarantine. What is our chance of transmitting the virus to each other? They, young and strong, yet no guarantee for them; we, older, and at risk, we may survive, as some have done. Dear God, may we celebrate your love, our birthdays, moments of joy, even as we wear masks, refrain from hugs and protect ourselves from harm.