With the lockdown in effect across many countries in the world right now, there is one specific group of people that is keenly upset – the ones who have their birthdays. Most people are having to spend their birthdays at home due to COVID-19 and are not very pleased about it.
However, Norma Gregorio here took this situation as a challenge and celebrated her 89th birthday on March 25th with much happiness.
Talking about this to the CNN, her granddaughter Jessica told that the family wanted to make the day a special one for her. However, since they could not physically get her a cake due to the risks of the virus, they ordered a cake online that was made entirely out of flowers.
To appreciate this gesture, grandma Norma recorded herself and sent them the video of her cutting the cake – and it’s all kinds of adorable!
Upon receiving the cake from her family, Norma lit up some candles and also sang “Happy Birthday” to herself, and recorded it. She emailed this video to her family. Her granddaughter Kerrigan found it so amazing that she posted it on her TikTok handle. And within a week, this wonderful video went viral, reaching over 9 million views.
Gregorio’s extremely adorable video begins with her depicting that she was “all alone” and how no one would come to visit her due to the virus. She proceeds to add that this would not stop her from celebrating her special day – which was her 88th birthday. She sang a birthday song for herself and made a sweet wish before blowing out her candles.
Gregorio expressed her happiness about the cards and gifts she received from her family and went on to mention that the greatest gift was “the gift of another day.”
She said, “I start the morning saying, ‘Thank you God for giving me this day to live through,’ because each day is a life in itself. Especially when you’re 88. You have to live it fully, completely, and just live in the moment. To be old, every day is a gift.”
Gregorio believes that life is special every day and for anyone who feels bad about celebrating their birthday alone, she sent out a special message to cheer them up.
“I’m always happy. It’s easier to smile than to frown. You look around and you see those frown lines, they’re ugly. But smile lines? They’re beautiful. So I’m always, always, always happy.”
Having said that, Gregorio went on to explain how disappointed she was to find out that the cake was made entirely from flowers. She had expected to have something sweet to eat!
“There wasn’t even a slice hidden beneath the flower. I looked, darling, I looked. Anyway, once this is over, let’s share a coke or a glass of wine on my terrace. How does that sound?”
Kudos to this young soul who just wouldn’t give up on her birthday. If only most of us are this grateful about life and celebrate every moment we get to live!
