May 8, 1990. 7 am. My wife and I are at Kaiser Permanante Hospital in Anaheim, California. A few hours later, we were joined by our youngest daughter.

I cut the umbilical cord and held her in my arms for the first time. I put my finger in her tiny hand, expecting her to grab on tight. Nothing! Nada! Zip!!!!

Hmmmm….okay. This is how it’s going be? Hang on tight, people. Life is about to become more interesting…a lot more interesting.

That scene was twenty-eight years ago today. May 8th is her birthday. But, how do you celebrate during a pandemic? How do you celebrate while social distancing.

I miss the child that dissed my finger almost three decades ago. The last time I saw her was on Thanksgiving 2019. Usually there would be a Christmas/Hanukkah meet-up, but we spent those holidays on different coasts. Thousands of miles of distancing.

At the start of this year, we had a few lunch dates planned, but life got in the way. Ehhh….we figured we’d just find another time. No big deal,

But, then came the coronavirus…..A BIG DEAL!

We’re now going on six months of no face to face contact. Zoom doesn’t count! What makes it tougher is that tiny baby from 1990 is now in the process of having her own tiny baby. It’s her first one! I’d like to see a live version of what she looks like while pregnant. I’d like to feel that baby kick my hand.

That damn pandemic makes it hard, if not impossible!

However, I can celebrate her birthday without her. It’s easy when you have years of memories. I can close my eyes and picture her toilet training herself…in one day. I can play back the night she broke her arm falling off a chair, after I told her get down. Yeah, she got down all right…the hard way! I remember the day she told me she met a special guy. A couple of years after that, I walked her down an aisle to spend her life with that same special guy. I can go on and on and on. See, I told you celebrating would be easy. It’s only the distance that’s hard.

So to my lovely daughter, have the best birthday ever!!! I look forward to seeing you again….whenever that may be. I look forward to meeting that new baby in September. Do you think he’ll grab my finger? Probably not….like mother, like son.

Love you,
Dad

Related Post: Does it suck to have your birthday on Mother’s Day?

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