Alex's Birthday Sheltered in Place

After reading my daughter-in-law's blog post about four quarantined birthday celebrations at her house (there were three in April and one in early May) I realized I had not posted about my son Alex's birthday this year when he turned 34 on May 26. On his birthday, my husband Frank and I drove up to his St. Denis home in San Ramon which has been closed to comings or goings of the clients and any visitors since mid-March.

We have been FaceTiming Alex since mid-April and were pleased to learn he grasps the concept and enjoys it. He recognizes Frank and me and has touched us on the screen. This photo makes me think of "E.T. phone home".

Since then he has expanded his communications to include his sister Robin from Oklahoma and to his brother Dan from SoCal. Alex's niece and nephew in Oklahoma have even entertained him by singing and dancing for him during the FaceTime call. He has shown off for them by demonstrating how quickly he can assemble a puzzle or by singing "Row, row, row, your boat... merrily, merrily, merrily merrily".

But I digress. On his actual birthday Frank and I went a bit beyond a FaceTime call. We drove to his home, parked in front, and walked around to the rear window looking out on the backyard from off the living room.  A table was set up facing out and his friends gathered round. We, staff, and his housemates sang Happy Birthday to him and he blew out his candle. He liked that so much, they relit the candle twice more and he got to blow it out again and again with a big smile on his face.

Then Frank and I high-fived him, COVID-19 style. It was a short visit but it was fun for him and us.