Sunday, August 30, 2020

Happy Birthday to Me and Two Others


 We met last weekend at our daughter's house to celebrate our family's August birthdays. We met on the back patio, maintained social distance and wore masks most of the time. We celebrated my 80th birthday, our son-in-law's 51st birthday and our grandson's 18th. I got to wear a sparkly crown with an "80" on it. It was obvious that our six-year-old grand daughter coveted the crown, so she got to take it home.

All of us have been more or less stuck in the house since mid-March because of the pandemic. My husband and I, both at high risk for bad outcomes if we catch the coronavirus, take all kinds of precautions. I would love to have short hair again, but I wouldn't feel safe going   to my salon, so I'm stuck, for now, with witch hair. I would love to go to the grocery store, wander the aisles at my leisure and pick out my own produce. Instead, we order groceries and they are delivered. Most of the time it works out fine, but I wasn't happy when we were charged the "sale price" of $2.50 for a rotting cantaloupe. I complained, but got no response.

I haven't been blogging because (1) our lives are pretty much contained within our four walls, and (2) I have been taking an online course to improve my quality of life despite having a chronic lung disease. The Pulmonary Wellness Foundation (PWF) in New York City offers a challenging 6-week pulmonary rehabilitation  course free of charge. (Donations are accepted.) The daily sessions require a commitment of close to an hour. There are two motivational talks by Noah Greenspan, the  PWF director,  a "breathing, balance, flexibility and strength session" led by a variety of practitioners (instructors in yoga, tai-chi and qigong, physical therapists, and a Bollywood dancer) and finally a daily "walk" which starts out at 4 minutes and gradually increases to 30 minutes by Day 42. I have stuck with it. Tomorrow is the beginning of the sixth week. I can honestly say I feel more energetic since starting the course and plan to maintain the habit of daily exercise once the course is over.  

18 comments:

  1. Happy 80th birthday to you and happy birthday to your other family members.

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  2. Happy Birthday. Sounds like you had a nice celebration.

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  3. Happy Happy Birthday! You certainly don't look 80! Very generous of you to give away your tiara to your grand-daughter. I would have arm wrestled her for it.

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    1. She would have won, hands down. Pun intended.

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  4. Good for you for sticking the course and making a little girl happy. I must confess, I thought 80, WOW. But I'm 77, pushing 78 soon. Happy birthday, to you.

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    1. In a way, I have you to thank for sticking with the course. Way back in January when I was first adjusting to having a chronic illness, you advised me to "kick its butt", which is what I'm doing.

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  5. Happy 80th and many more. I have 20 years and I will be 80

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  6. A belated? happy 80th.
    It must have been good to catch up with family. I wish we could.
    It is is so easy when we aren't feeling really well to give up on exercise, yes me, but you have to keep trying even if only for short periods. Do as much as you can and push yourself a little.

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    1. PS Your hair doesn't look so bad.

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    2. Thank you. Gotta admit, it doesn't look bad in the photo.

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  7. Happy 80th and yay for the course and excericse. it is so hot i am not doing my walk a mile every day, and have sadly lapsed away from the walk a mile inside to youtube ..thanks for prodding me. I will be 76 on the 5th..

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    1. Thank you. Believe me, when it's hot, all good intentions just melt away. Happy upcoming birthday. So on the 5th, you will be 76. 5-7-6, right? That must mean something.

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  8. Happy birthday. 80 is amazing. And how nice to celebrate with other August birthdays.

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  9. Thank you, Liz. Yes, it was very nice, even with the masks and distancing.

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