100, Under Quarantine, And Still Fabulous

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100, Under Quarantine,  And Still Fabulous

       Ten years ago my mother celebrated her 90th birthday with a family party to which she also invited 200 of only her closest friends. (I'm serious. She wanted to invite more people).  My sister-in-law, who'd overseen  the considerable logistics of the celebration from renting the venue to ordering the invitations to arranging the decorations and food, joked afterwards with my mom that pretty soon we'd have to start planning for her hundredth birthday party.
       "Oh, I'll never make it to one hundred," I recall my mother chuckling.
       "Yes you will," said my sister-in-law, "and wait 'til you see that party."
       My mother did, indeed make it to one hundred years last Wednesday, June 24. But how strange that she should reach this birthday when the world is in the grip of a pandemic and instead of celebrating her century of life surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and  some good old friends, she should be isolated on this day from her near and dear ones under the restrictions of quarantine and the rules of social distancing.
          And yet, thanks to the kind, caring staff at Sunrise of Gahanna, the senior care facility where my mother is a resident in the Memory Care unit,   

...my mom did have her 100th birthday party, such as parties have become in the age of  COVID-19.
     The wonderful Sunrise Activities Coordinator organized a quarantine-friendly community drive-by party, decorating the front porch with banners and balloons,

...including a banner sent by one of my sisters-in-law.

        I sent over cake for the Sunrise residents and staff.
       According to the quarantine rules, I was allowed to be present at a safe distance, so a chair was set up for me at the other end of the porch from my mom.
       While one of the staff was at the CVS parking lot across the street from Sunrise organizing the participants of the drive-by, other staff members gathered around the porch,

...and the birthday girl was led outside to her place of honor.

     Buddy, the Sunrise resident dog, came out for the festivities.

     At 3 pm the party guests arrived, kind friends recruited by the Sunrise staff and some of my friends,

...who drove by and offered their good wishes.

     Among the guests were my daughter, son-in-law and grand daughters from California  who are quarantining with us here in Ohio for part of the summer.

      After the drive-by guests left my mom received a group phone call, set up by my sister, from her children and some of her grandchildren,

     Then she opened her cards and gifts,

     Among the gifts she received was a star bracelet made by my grand daughter and a rosary bracelet from me.

     She also received a letter from Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who, along with birthday wishes, also thanked my mom for her military service as a World War II U.S. Army Nurse.

     A photograph of my Mom taken at the U.S. Naval base in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she was stationed during World War II

       After the  the festivities had wound down my mom said, "What I'd like to do now is take everyone out for big ice cream sundaes! Isn't there an ice cream store around here?"
         I explained - well, lied - to her that unfortunately there wasn't, but one of the staff members showed her  one of the cakes I'd brought over and told her - truthfully -  they were now going back inside for cake and ice cream with her friends, and she seemed happy that her party was still going on.

        And so, though it wasn't the 100th birthday party we her family had imagined for our mother ten years ago or even four months ago, she seemed perfectly delighted by her drive-by party, which in fact seemed perfect, just enough, just right. Nor could we have asked for more  love, kindness and good wishes than were showered upon our mother that day.

      Still, it was a bittersweet moment for me when I had to kiss my mom good-bye from afar; a reminder, as almost everything is these days, of the times we live in.