A Revamped Birthday Lunch

 

   COVID-19 had changed so many things I can't name them all. In fact so many things were going on that the beginning of August snuck up on me. I realized that I had not planned my birthday lunch. This isn't like me. Normally I have my planning as far as guest list and restaurant done by 1 August. Not this year.

   Fortunately, restaurants are offering dine in service again. C and I found one in Hudson that had good food and an option for outside dining. The next thing was going to be who I would invite. Some of the people I had invited in the past had moved. One person I had lost contact with. I couldn't invite my dear adopted grandma, Evie, because her health is too poor to risk getting COVID. I couldn't invite Ellen and Mac for the same reason. Dana had been exposed to the virus and was nervous about possibly infecting others unknowingly. I had to have lunch with someone. It's tradition. I just couldn't have a birthday and not take someone out to lunch. I couldn't let COVID take that away from me.

  I began to think of things I could do. I could simply have lunch with C, but that just wouldn't be right. I had to take someone else out. I could get a gift card and send it to one of my friends that had moved and tell them to go out for lunch and tell me about it, maybe take a few pictures. I liked that idea, but I wanted to have lunch with the person. I could bring food to Evie, but then she might try to invite me in and I would worry about her getting sick. A name popped into my head, Devri.

  Devri is a woman I know and consider to be a friend. Mainly we email and chat at church. She works at the church storehouse and while she is not responsible for the storehouse operation and distribution of food to those in need, her job does help people. She's single. She does a lot for other people and helps to care for her mother. 

  I thought about this off and on during the week. Devri works during the week so having lunch at the place we found would not be possible. I could bring lunch to her. In fact that would probably be very nice. 

  After several emails we set up a time and what restaurant she wanted. I was excited. I really liked the idea for bringing lunch to someone and eating it with them. 

  The day of the lunch arrived. C and I set out and got the food. We brought it her her workplace. She was the only one there. We sat in the kitchen area and ate. We talked while we ate. It was a lot of fun. I found out some things I never knew before. We told funny stories. We talked and ate for two hours.

  She thanked us as we left. I felt like we had really lifted her spirits a bit. Having to isolate because of COVID is hard on people. The lack of simple human interaction hurts. I felt like we had done something really good. I smiled the entire way home. 

  This is something that I may do next year. Think of someone I know who might need a little attention and either take them out to lunch or bring lunch to them. In a way I'm getting to the core of the birthday lunch tradition. It's all about making someone else's day a bit brighter.