Birthdays and stay-at-home orders.

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Celebrating one's birthday when an epidemic is preventing family and friends from gathering physically, is definitely a challenge. Tita Babie's birthday is a perfect example. We couldn't go to her house to celebrate because we are still ordered to stay home by the state. Naturally, she felt really sad. So her kids organised a video conference call so that at least we're gathered virtually. The wonders of technology are truly amazing.

Tita Babie's birthday party on Zoom. I have forgotten who took this photo and shared it with the family.

Val is also celebrating his birthday this month. He's working from home, where the Los Baños local government guidelines for the quarantine are even stricter than California's. He's alone on his birthday; the wee one and I can't fly over to be with him as he turns a year older. But the difference is that he's not as big on birthday parties as Tita Babie; and he's swamped with work... with several meetings going on virtually. He's even about to do a slide presentation in one of the virtual conferences going on during his birthday! And because our child is keeping me constantly busy and exhausted, we haven't had the chance to do a video call just yet... but we send messages through Skype.

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