Hello hi,
I hope everyone is doing okay and holding up strong
during this time. It was my birthday a few days ago, actually on Friday, April
24th and I turned 32 years old! Whoop whoop! At first, I was not
sure of how I was going to celebrate the day as I could not have my usual recent
birthday traditions– pre-birthday photoshoot out somewhere, dress up, more photos
and dinner with friends on my actual birthday, and of course ice-cream cake with
my name spelt on it! So when a friend of mine asked me a few weeks before about
how I intended to celebrate my birthday, my response was “no idea”. I already knew
that it would be impossible to order an ice-cream cake for delivery as it would
melt before getting to my place. I did not know of any nice cake factory either,
until a colleague of mine recommended one to another colleague during our
weekly calls and then I took note. With the whole Zoom party craze going on since
the COVID19 situation, it crossed my mind to have my own party but I pushed it
aside. I did not want to have an evening party, as a matter of fact, I wanted
to go to bed early as I knew I would be up early on my birthday receiving phone
calls. So I thought to myself - on my birthday, order a cake, dress up, and
take selfies; fullstop.
However as the day approached, I started having a
feeling of not wanting to be left out. I began to want more – more than just
selfies or stuffing my face with cake. So yes, a few days earlier, I did order
a cake but I also called a neighbour and asked if she could help me take pre-birthday
photos of me in a socially-distant manner. What did that even mean? Well, I put
my cell phone, a camera, and a hand sanitizer in a bag and hung it by her door.
She wore a mask, we went downstairs just in front of my building and she took
photos of me quickly. Throughout the photoshoot, she was more than 6ft apart
from me and when she finished, she dropped the bag with my photo apparel by the
door. I used another hand sanitizer to wipe down everything, and then wash my
hands. I was impressed with our delivery and showed my younger sister, Odi the
nice photos. But those were pre-birthday photos and I knew I still wanted more
for my actual birthday. So my sister urged me to try taking photos of myself
using my phone timer. I did not have a tripod so I set the phone at different
angles by my window seal on my balcony while Odi directed me as to where the ‘good
light’ was and the appropriate distance. After a while, I decided to make use
of some old boxes, layering them and resting the phone on them until I got the
photos right. I was happy with the practice and ready for my birthday in a few
day’s time.
My tripod, hee hee.
A close friend of mine had just had a mini-zoom party
for her husband which went well and so almost last minute, I finally decided to
have something similar. I created a zoom account, invited my family and a few
friends to watch me cut my cake and send their well-wishes. Since it was a free
zoom account, the call was scheduled to last for 40 minutes maximum. The
invitation was for noon and dress code was yellow, although I did not tell
everyone because most of those I had already told said they did not have
anything yellow to wear. Because I invited people from different time zones, I
knew some would still be working or just finishing from work so I planned not
to stay too long on the Zoom call. My only concern was that people might log in
late (as per African time). My cake had arrived the day before, looking much
bigger than l had expected.
My birthday came; as usual, I had phone calls, did my
usual morning activities, wore some makeup and started my zoom call about 10
minutes earlier. To my surprise, some of my family members were already calling
it and as a matter of fact, most of the invitees were right on time with some
even wearing yellow! I was pleasantly surprised. My elder sister and her whole
family wore yellow too, even though I had not even told her the dress code – I was
thrilled #yellowgang. A cousin of mine wore a full on Igbo attire with the red
cap, lol. Everyone was on point! They sang happy birthday to me, multiple times
actually as I made the latecomers sing each time they logged in, ha ha. Then I
cut my cake on the spell of JESUS and everyone gave their well wishes, which
was really sweet. A few people had to leave to go back to work or other duties
but most people hung around. I ate some of my cake, played some music and
danced, and all of them danced as well J The call lasted
for 2 hours because somehow Zoom decided to extend my free time, it was
amazing!
After my Zoom party call, I had a few work group calls
and everyone sang happy birthday to me. In between the calls, I went to my
balcony, set up my new “tripod stand” and took these lovely photos that you
see. In the evening, I cut some slices of cakes for my neighbours, called them
on the phone, and left them at their door. It was indeed a perfect day and my
best birthday in a long time. One of my good friends described it in the screenshot
below:
So at the end of the day, I had everything I wanted and
more – I had my amazing family and friends (over 20 people) from different time
zones and locations, all at the same time on my screen. If not for the current Coronavirus
situation and technology (Zoom), this would not have happened. Lest I forget to mention, I also have my zoom call recording. So I am thankful
for the opportunity I had and the love bestowed upon me by these wonderful
people who sacrificed their time and joined Zoom, in no particular order– Ada and her family, Odi, Aunty Linda, Nonso, Alex, Ezinne, Ngonne, Chidin(m)ma (x2), Marilyn, Sylvia (x2), Menglan,
Janie, Reem, Jennifer (x2), Bobby, Nnamdi, Stephanie, Ugo and Chika (my birthday mate); and of course to those who
wanted to but could not make it – my mum, Nkem, Prince, and Ngo, whose
delivery was ALMOST timed perfectly by the way, ha ha. Special thanks to the
rest of my family and friends, and to my colleagues and everyone who sent me
birthday wishes through phone calls, emails, and social media.
Cheers to my new age and I look forward to many more
celebrations! To God be the glory for ever, Amen.
