Have you ever spent a birthday in the hospital?
Just before my birthday in 2020, my eye doctor told me that I needed emergency eye surgery. It was my second eye surgery (手術) that year, and I was NOT looking forward to it.
My first eye surgery lasted 4 hours, and the anesthesia (麻酔) stopped working after about the first 90 minutes, so it was very painful and traumatic.
I was so disappointed （がっかり) to hear that I needed another surgery.
And, what was even worse, I had to enter the hospital on the day before my birthday. 
As you know, staying in the hospital during the last 2 years means no visitors (面会禁止). The atmosphere (雰囲気) at the hospital was tense (ピリピリ）. All the patients (患者さん) kept the curtains around their beds closed.
By coincidence (偶然), a wonderful woman who was taking my private online lessons was also staying in the same ward (部） at the same time. She knew that it was my birthday. Even though her surgery was much more serious than mine, she went to the coffee shop near the lobby of the hospital, and she got me a birthday cake. She also had a birthday card for me.
I was out of my room for a while talking to the doctor, and when I returned to my room, this was on my bed tray table!
It was such a nice surprise, and it really cheered me up. I ate the birthday cake with my hospital lunch.
Because I was in the hopsital, only my husband and youngest daughter were at home. My youngest daughter was in the 3rd year of high school at that time (受験生）. That evening I received a message from them on my phone. My oldest daughter, who lives in Kanagawa Prefecture, sent something to our house for me on my birthday. They opened the box and sent me a photo.
It was...a pineapple?
They removed the wrapping. Yes, it was a pineapple!
They cut it open. It was a gorgeous, beautiful birthday cake inside!
They couldn't visit me in the hospital, so we couldn't eat the cake together. But my husband took a piece of the cake to the entrance of the hospital, and a security guard (警備員) brought it to my room. There was a message plate and a birthday card from my daughter too.
I kept the message plate and birthday card on my bed tray table until I left the hospital about a week later.
It would have been a very sad birthday if it weren't for the kindness of others. I was so grateful. I'm not sure if they all realize how happy they made me that day. 
By the way, I still have that message plate from my daughter in the refrigerator. Every time I open the refrigerator, I see it. 
