The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives. However, some have had to spend one of the most important days of their lives, their birthday, isolated from their extended family and friends.

Anna Szczerba, a sophomore at Padua, spent her 15th birthday on April 28 at home with her family.

“It was a little weird not being able to hang out with friends for my birthday this year, but it also was nice to just be home and spend time with my family without being super busy that day.” said Szczerba.

On Szczerba’s birthday, she had dinner and dessert with her family. She was also able to see her grandparents outside for some time, making sure she kept her distance from them.

“I had a pretty relaxing birthday because I didn’t have anywhere else to be, and I could just be at home and spend time with my family.” said Szczerba.

Katie Heinlein, also a sophomore at Padua, celebrated her birthday on May 27, also with her family. She slept in, had dinner with her family, and was surprised by her friends who drove by her house with signs.

“It was definitely different not being able to celebrate by going out to the movies or to dinner like I normally would with my friends, but I was very happy that I got to see them” said Heinlein.

However, there was one aspect that Heinlein thought was missing from her birthday festivities: seeing extended family.

“Usually I would have gotten to see family that lives a couple hours away around my birthday, but I actually saw less of my family because of the pandemic.” Heinlein said.

Both Heinlein and Szczerba never thought they would spend their birthdays in the pandemic. But when cases began to spike, they knew that they would probably spend their birthdays at home.

“I knew that there was a high chance of spending my birthday in quarantine, especially in April when things only got worse and we knew that we would be spending the rest of the school year in quarantine,” said Heinlein.

Szczerba added, “I hadn’t really thought too much about how I was going to celebrate my birthday in the pandemic, but it actually ended up being a pretty good day.”