On my birthday.. no need to talk to the manager.

It was the best of birthdays: it was the worst of birthdays..

Nah..I'm kidding. 

 I thought quoting Dickens would be a classy ice breaker to describe what it really turned out to be:  the BEST..only the BEST.. of birthdays!!

My first Covid birthday!

And hopefully, my last...

Not my last birthday, my last Covid-birthday..

'cause if I bring in my 66th in 2022 and there's still a strain of this virus, or a mutated version, if there is still no theater, or parties, or movies, or vacations, if there's still no hair straightenings or waxings, still no justice in D.C, still no..

OK..I'll stop.  There will still not be any crossing over the Rainbow Bridge, or whatever the human equivalent is of that, because I'm not done yet.

Especially after Jim's big surprise tonight, but I took these notes before THAT happened, so bear with me..

I felt a love of birthday love here on Facebook, from strangers and acquaintances, from friends and friends of friends.

My SIXTY-FIVE year old eyes were having trouble keeping up with the deluge of well wishers, trying to acknowledge every acknowledgement with an acknowledgement, so if I called you by a different name, say, that of my cousin when you're actually a high school friend, it's because all the messages--that outpouring of pure love--blended together into one ball of acknowledgement.

Love is love is love(Lin Manuel-Miranda) and I felt a lot of it all day, covering me like a blanket decked with photos from some of the happiest memories of my life.

I'm still ferklempt over that unexpected package--the  special, unexpected gift from my brother's family, or as Luke likes to call it:  a new chew toy.

But wait..there's more!!

Jim tried to sneak in a Carvel cake, and I want to publicly thank  the icer for not giggling when she wrote" Karen" on the cake.  She spelled it so it looked like K-A-I-E-N--a name that is so hard to pronounce that she'd spend all her time explaining it instead of demanding to see managers.

Flash forward to tonight, when Jim took Evan and I to my favorite Italian restaurant.  He presented me with the first surprise of the night..a T-shirt with a Karen joke(yeah, yeah, I'm laughing too) and a card with dogs that he signed, I kid you not, "Love, Jim and KAREN"!!..(and Evan and Luke.)

We were grateful that there was only one other family seated in the place with the spaced out tables--unfortunately, it was a family of hyenas. 

 OK "Uncle Chris"..we get it.  It's your birthday.  Now keep those kids quiet and keep them away from us.

The dinner was so relaxing, until Jim decided he had to photograph the meal, resulting in Evan's phone getting spritzed with hand sanitizer(don't ask) and the first Diet Coke I had in months winding up in my lap. (Again, don't ask)

I couldn't stay mad at him for long..I knew there was ice cream cake that needed defrosting, and three nights of Jeopardy! to be played on Alexa.

We're about to start the third game, when Jim yells out:  "I've got to go to the bathroom!" and runs upstairs like a mad men.

I was confused at first--why would he leave the game?

Then I was grossed out:  "Diarrhea!??" I guessed to Evan.

And then..then I was MAD..because I heard voices in the upstairs bathroom.  

"If he's faking a stomach ailment to take a WORK call during a milestone birthday during a PANDEMIC" I thought...

..But then I didn't have to think much more.

He plopped down the lap top and there it was..the best surprise party of my life!

A ZOOM party without worrying if I had onion dip breath or if I'd get a seat, anxieties I have in a real life gathering.

My great niece Shoshana told jokes and made me see a future Sarah Silverman: her brother Eyli bounced around like a monkey I'd see on the original "ZOOM", the kid show Evan watched in grammar school, their Mom Miriam was being her sweet and wonderful self, showing off the cake that Shosh drew for me, that looked a little suggestive but I absolutely loved it, and all  the hilarious and topical commentary from my nephew Scott..

..and then my awesome niece Marissa with all her awesomeness, and her hilarious fiance Todd who told me my favorite Woodloch staffer might make an appearance(he couldn't at the last minute, but it's the thought--the glorious thought--that counts) and Steven and Jane being the best brother and sister in law  in the universe..

I was at a loss for words.

Jim and Evan didn't just surprise me, they SHOCKED me..shocked the gloom and doom right out of my soul, giving me the BEST birthday party I ever had.

I missed my family so much and we were all here, in all our glory, with all our accidentally muted buttons.

Pure happiness:  it's just  a click away!

Covid be damned..it was the birthday celebration of the century!

Thanks to my amazing husband and son for making January such a warm and sunny month.

I am the luckiest Karen in the world!