Mollie turned six years old this past Thursday.  She’d been planning her party with her Mom and looking forward to it for many weeks (which as we all remember is a really long time when you’re five).  But as the day grew closer Mollie’s mom realized there could be no birthday party amidst the contagion of COVID-19. 

Telling Mollie that her party would be cancelled was not going to be fun for Mollie’s parents, and they knew it would be tough to explain to her.  As luck would have it Mollie is a pretty resilient kid, so after explaining the situation as best they could, together they came up with an inside-the-house family birthday plan. Mollie’s mom then made her first call to tell the mom of a neighborhood friend about the party’s cancellation.  More than just understanding, the neighbor said: I’ll make a big sign, hang it outside our window and leave her gift on our doorstep so when Mollie wakes up tomorrow morning you can go for a walk with her and we’ll blow her kisses from the window.” 

Mollie’s Mom was of course touched by her neighbor’s thoughtfulness, and it got her to thinking that perhaps she’d call a few more neighbors and ask them if they too could put signs in their windows for Mollie’s birthday the next morning. They were uniformly excited to help out, and she went to bed that night feeling grateful for such wonderful neighbors.

Morning came and Mollie’s mom eagerly suggested they go for a morning birthday walk.  Mollie quickly ate her breakfast, put on her coat and boots and raced her mom to the door.  What happened next was unexpected and beautiful, and made for a birthday Mollie will never forget.  Those thoughtful neighbors Jemma went to bed being grateful for had outdone themselves.   The neighbors had called neighbors who called neighbors so that four streets of homes and storefronts had door-stoops festooned with balloons and “Happy Birthday Mollie” signs, and as Mollie and her Mom strode up and down the streets, Mollie was awestruck as she read sign after sign celebrating her and her birthday… I think that’s what a community of love looks like.

I wanted to tell this story about Mollie and her sixth birthday not only because it’s so emblematic of the resilience this time calls for, but also because of the resilience of Mollie’s very special mom who I’ve known since she was born.  In fact I clearly remember the day of her birth, and the day she turned six, and when she turned thirteen, and eighteen and twenty-one. 

I also remember when she called me at 27 and told me she was planning to get married.  Her marriage surprised me and we talked a lot about her choice and she told me she felt certain it was right.  It was about a year later when she called to tell me she had decided to get divorced, and trusted she was making the right decision.  It was about five years later when after having dated her now husband for a few years, she called to tell me she and her then boyfriend, a true partner, were planning to marry.

Fast forward nine years and Mollie is one of four siblings, part of a family that knows not only how to live well in happy times but how to find light in times of darkness.  I’m so very proud of my spectacular niece, her resilience, and her capacity to teach her children well.

Happy Birthday Mollie!