Bittersweet

It is my Dad's 80th birthday on Tuesday. Some years his birthday is on Thanksgiving. Then we have a birthday cake along with an assortment of pies. My brother and sister and their families live in northeast Georgia. My brother hosts the Thanksgiving meal, complete with cooking two super large turkeys and making turkey soup for everyone the following day, every other year. The even years are the get-together years and 2020 had the big bonus of Dad's milestone birthday.

Except now we are all staying home. Dad isn't flying into Atlanta from Phoenix. His sister isn't driving over from Wichita. The nieces and nephews who all live within 30 minutes to 2 hours away would return home for the weekend. We aren't driving down from Virginia.

And so, we are doing the next best thing. We siblings put our heads and budgets together and sent my Dad an assortment of sweet and savory pies from a pie bakery for his birthday. I put together a family Zoom call tonight (with the help of my husband).  We'll see everyone and catch up. I'm thinking of having breakout rooms with questions. An easy one for starters. "What's your favorite pie? Share a memory you have connected to it." And perhaps a thoughtful one, "What was something that this year has taught you?"

We will laugh. We will be so glad to see each other. We will be grateful for the technology that allows this to happen while still wishing we were getting together this coming week. It will be beautiful and bittersweet.