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By Justin Weinger
Birthdays are special, and it can be hard to be far away from someone you love when their day comes around. If a close friend or family member is far away, you might wonder how you can still help them celebrate. You could send a card or gift or have a video chat, but maybe you want to do something really memorable. The ideas below can help you go above and beyond to give your faraway friend or relative one of their best birthdays yet. You can even combine several of them to make it particularly meaningful.
Sending Flowers
Sending flowers might initially sound like another perfunctory gesture, but doing so with some thought really shows you care. Checking out a guide that points you to the top ten picks for the best flowers for your loved one’s birthday, with information on why the flower is popular and what special meaning it has, can help you make the right choice. With the right care, fresh flowers can last for days, reminding your friend or relative of your best wishes even after their birthday has ended. In fact, you could start their day with a flower delivery and then follow up with an experience, party or handmade gift as described below.
Have an Online Experience Together
You can arrange an experience that the two of you can both take part in. For example, there are cooking classes in which the instructor mails the ingredients to you ahead of time, and then you participate in the class via video software. Wine and whiskey tastings are available as well. This is an industry that has really exploded, so whether you and your loved one might enjoy learning fly fishing or screenwriting together, touring a foreign city or museum, or making crafts, you can find these and more on offer virtually.
Design a Party
You can also take a page from the experiences that are commercially available and plan a virtual party if there are other friends and relatives scattered about who would enjoy participating. Be creative, going above and beyond a mere video chat. You could send slices of cake to everyone who will participate or create a theme, having everyone dress up in costumes from the roaring 20s, a favorite book or anything else the birthday celebrant loves. You could also participate in online escape rooms or virtual murder mysteries. If your friend or family member is the type who likes surprises, go a step further and schedule a video call with them that is really a surprise party.
Create Something
You might remember a parent telling you as a child that they loved the homemade cards you made them best of all, or if you have children of your own, you may have told them this. If you have a creative bent, write your loved one a song or a poem, paint them a picture or tell them a story. If your talents lie more toward crafting, a handmade article of clothing is a unique and special item that shows them how much you care.
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