Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “A Pandemic Birthday”

Give your story a title.

A Pandemic Birthday

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

Photograph, text story

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

This year, birthdays were different. I didn’t get to celebrate with friends and family, I didn’t go out to eat, I didn’t celebrate with drinks at a bar, and I had to cancel a trip to Chicago that involved museum trips and live shows. Leading up to my birthday, I felt a sense of loss and homesickness, and felt some resentment about not being able to celebrate while others ignored Covid restrictions and stay-at-home orders. That being said, I made an attempt to turn my attitude around, and planned some simple, fun activities I could do at home. I ordered food in, picked up a pie from a local bakery, carved pumpkins with my family, and ended my day with some Animal Crossing. It ended up being one of the most relaxing birthdays I’ve ever had, and I received lots of virtual love from friends and family that brought me a sense of closeness, despite the distance.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

HST580, ASU, birthday, fall, pumpkin, carving, pie, family

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Julia Jensen

Give this story a date.

2020-10-06
Click here to view the corresponding item.