This post is more than two years too late. Photos popped up on my screen and all along I thought had already documented that amazing surprise. It turned out it was recorded only in my mind.
Twenty eight months—that’s how long Filipinos in Metro Manila were incarcerated during the Covid-19 pandemic. By any standard, it was a mighty long time.
Those times made my sons and I extremely vigilant about being infected, not so much for ourselves but for Tony who had comorbidity. Our home had to be sanitized with every turn, because according to his doctor, comorbidity is dangerous during a pandemic.
Having pre-existing conditions made it more likely for him to experience severe outcomes from a viral infection. “A virus can affect multiple organ systems, and a compromised immune system or organ function from a comorbidity makes the body less able to fight off the infection, leading to a higher risk of complications, hospitalization, and death.”
That was scary!
(By God’s protective grace, Tony survived the pandemic, but he had to leave on the Lord’s scheduled day, two years later.)
The lockdown was imposed on March 15, 2020 and lifted on July 21, 2023, a day after my 4th birthday in home confinement.
At church after our women’s Sunday school, I was surprised with an impromptu, festive birthday song, in contrast to the quiet celebrations at home. My students (classmates, rather) handed me a makeshift birthday cake (frozen ham decorated with colorful thingamajigs borrowed from the children’s bulletin board and a birthday note) and made like a grand party.
A little girl, who seemed to have me all figured out---including my pandemic hairdo--sent me this to cap the occasion.
That birthday two years ago was meant to to be celebrated. Every milestone (or every day) on earth is a time for thanksgiving.
“O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” Psalm 144:3-4 ESV
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