MY STORY AT 70 .
I am alone, lockdown in my own home.
My husband passed in 2002 and to escape
the family limelight on my birthdays, I found a novel way to dodge the family
glare by experiencing adventurous life abroad ! One of these exciting occasion
which immediately comes to my mind was in 2009. A car journey to Death Valley
of California through the treacherous mountainous region. Stopping over for a
night in a motel, I found a bath full of colourful balloons and birthday cake
for breakfast! A big birthday surprise discretely conjured up by my companions.
The following year, I found myself in Bangladesh for charity work and to
my surprise my birthday celebration went on for a whole week! As I
travelled from one village to the next I was showered with unwanted gifts,
birthday cakes and a jack fruit as a special treat!
This year, as the news of this
invisible monster,( under the official name of Covid19) was rapidly reaching
our shores , my plan to travel abroad was quickly replaced by a plan to spend, few days by the sea
side in UK. A month before my big day, the news of the lockdown , quashed all my hopes of
even, leaving my own front door ! Alone and in quarantine , I found that I was unable to escape the
family spotlight to mark my big day. On my birthday, I woke up to floods of
telephone calls, video links, smiling faces at my window, greeting cards and
gifts , including , canned food, loo rolls and soap were left in my
porch! At the end of the day I was exhausted but felt
extremely overwhelmed by the whole day’s experience.
Like the rest of the country, I
am patiently
waiting for the invisible monster to vanish from our shores. However, my life ,
in quarantine has given me plenty of time to reflect on my novel birthday
adventures . In the years to come, I wonder if there will be any listening ears
for my mythical tales of my very exceptional birthday bash of 2020?
