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# Tessa's diary: No birthday celebrations thanks to coronavirus, but still plenty to be thankful for
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/tessas-diary-no-birthday-celebrations-thanks-to-coronavirus-but-still-plenty-to-be-thankful-for/
- Published: 2020-03-20T12:05:47.000Z
- Updated: 2020-03-20T12:05:59.000Z
- Description: There’s a view of a school from my window. Parents and children as usual at gates which will close later today – for who knows how long?
- Author: Tessa Calvert-Linnell
- Tags: Health, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:18, News

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### With large sections of society preparing to go into ‘social-isolation’, one Lichfield resident lifts the lid on her thoughts in the latest of a series of diary posts on the coronavirus outbreak.

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There’s a view of a school from my window. Parents and children as usual at gates which will close later today – for who knows how long?

A birthday in solitary confinement isn’t wonderful – no family celebration, of course – but much to be thankful for.

It’s a lot easier to be a pensioner with a reliable income than a worker worried about the rent or the owner of a business with bills to pay and no customers. 

I’m heartened too by offers of assistance from younger people still allowed out.

A parcel is due for delivery, which used to be a simple affair, but not any more. The sender has a list of reminders – no contact with the driver, no handling the package, then touching my face.

Eventually, a text tells me the item has arrived. A man in a van gets out, dumps a tall pink box on the gravel, then drives off at once.

On go the gloves. Again.

In the box is a bouquet. A touch tearful now, but the flowers are beautiful, with a fresh, delicate scent of the outside world.