Celebrating How Ever Way We Can

This year has been a difficult one for us in many ways.  The ongoing pandemic and the debatable response has not made it easy to see the joy usually present in our lives. Finding opportunities to visit family, to reconnect with friends, and to celebrate life has been rough. And more so when you want to make your loved one feel extra special since it is their birthday.

I will confess that I probably would not have been able to make the day feel as special as it was had it not been for the awesome group of friends we have gained in the passing years. Rocky and I have been blessed with a wonderful mix of personalities whom we can happily call our friends.  Friends from geek circles. Friends from our gay life. Friends currently based so far away. But with the lock downs and the quarantines, it is not hard to feel like everyone is so far away.

I had hopes of arranging a more exciting celebration for Rocky. I wanted to get him bottles of his favorite wine. I wanted to have a special show set up for him at our favorite haunt, O bar.  I had hoped to get friends join us and celebrate another year of being himself. 

But yeah, the pandemic.
The wine order is still indefinitely on hold, as the suppliers are currently silent on the matter.  
The bar is closed as restaurants and bars have limitations in their operations. 
Having friends over would prove to be an irresponsible thing.

I shot out messages to various mutual friends, asking them to have some time to join us for an online hangout. And after holding a super cool episode of Baduy Pride where we talked about Rocky's favorites (my suggestion to call it Rocky-ology was shot down), we then had a chat-til-you-drop session with awesome friends.

This image was one of the few captures we were able to take. It was truly heart-warming and lovely reconnecting with so many friends.  And it just made us remember all the more how much our hearts yearn to spend time with our friends and loved ones.

But thankfully, it made the day special for Rocky.

I'm so proud of him. From his focus on maintaining his Keto lifestyle, his determination in staying fit and completing his daily workout routines, and his devotion to writing.  I am proud to have this geek in my world and I would not trust anyone else with my heart, my secrets, and the rest of my life.



Happy birthday, Rocky!
Here's hoping we can celebrate things better post lockdown.