I am a Blessed Man
On January 25, 2022, I turned 60. I’m happy to say many people believe I look younger. I even had a client tell me I looked 50; she’s now my favorite client.
In spite of recent health challenges– first for me, I had pericarditis, (I’m fine and cleared to live my life fully), and then for Carol, who had a serious case of Covid, 9 days of fever followed by Covid Pneumonia– Carol was able to create an awesome birthday party to help me celebrate. Can you imagine what her situation could have been had she not been triple vaxxed? We don’t want to.
Carol’s a planner and had arranged two surprise dinners to celebrate. To be Covid responsible, one was to be with family, and a second with friends, both of which got canceled due to Carol’s health and the rising Covid cases. She was very disappointed. I told her “don’t worry about it, it's fine, you’ll reschedule the surprise dinners in the spring when Covid cases are down and we can eat outside.” She said then it won’t be a surprise, to which I responded, “of course it will be, you aren’t going to tell me.”
Carol was disappointed, but definitely not deterred. She put together a zoom party for me. She even asked me to calendar a zoom for the immediate family, which of course I did. I thought it was going to be the two of us, Joel, Aly and Simon. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Turns out my zoom gallery was so full, I needed a second page. Between people coming and going I estimated that we had between 35-40 unique zoom visitors. Many had multiple people present, so I’m guessing between 50-75 people came to celebrate my 60th birthday.
I had well wishers from 5 months to 88 years young. From all over the country and even outside the country, California, Utah, Colorado, St. Louis, South Carolina, Florida, Puerto Rico, New York, Rhode Island, Montreal, Toronto, and of course, many from the Philly area including south Jersey. I later realized that the six men in my wedding party, including the Rabbi who married us, my longest friend relationship, dating back to 2nd grade, were all present, from six different states and two countries. This made me very happy. First, that I still have those relationships and second, they were all able to be present.
While Covid has wreaked havoc in our lives, it’s also brought transformation. I’m pretty certain Carol wouldn’t have been able to amass this audience in person from all over North America, but with zoom she did, and I’m grateful.
Carol facilitated to minimize the melee which was guaranteed to ensue and as you would expect did a fantastic job. A number of people shared stories, acknowledged me and of course poked fun at me for being old. I must say, receiving all that acknowledgment is difficult for me. Some welcomed me to the 60s club. Joel spoke for both him and Simon and expressed their gratitude and how lucky they feel to have me as their father. What more could a dad ask for?
Simon put together a video montage with music in the background with the assistance of Helene, my older sister and keeper of the family history, including pictures. The video brought me to tears as there were several baby pictures with me and my mother, who died just six months prior. Clearly, I miss her. I was also moved as I had the honor to create Simon’s Bar Mitzvah video montage over ten years ago and here he was paying me back. My friend Cynthia, whom I had just got off the phone with less than 3 hours earlier, (wow, she’s good at not spilling the beans) played “Happy Birthday” for me on her viola from San Francisco.
My long-time friends from high school were there and one of them, Ted, was more than gracious at sharing pictures from high school that he posted as his zoom background, including one where I was mooning the camera. Thankfully, he was mature enough to block part of the image.
My cousin’s daughter Becca had a field day, copying the images and reposting them as her own zoom background. As Becca said, “I came for Alan and I stayed for Ted.” My friend Alena said she was about to chat with the same exact sentiment just as Becca said it.
Of course there was a cake and a sparkler. Phew, I didn’t have to blow out any candles.
To all who attended, I say thank you. To all who shared something, I say an extra thank you.
The night before my birthday, Carol said, “I can’t believe you are 60. How did that happen?” I replied, “one day at a time.” That’s it, life happens now, in the present, one day at a time.
Thank you Carol, for making my 60th birthday such a joyous occasion. I am incredibly blessed that you chose me to be your husband. My love, appreciation and admiration of you grows stronger every day.
The best part is I now know my 60th birthday celebration is not over yet. There will be at least one, if not two, surprise birthday dinners and I’m planning on driving a stock car at Pocono Raceway. If you’ve ever driven or skied with me, you know I love going fast.
I love being 60.