Coronavirus ruined his 7th birthday plans — until a Fort Worth neighborhood showed up
When Amber Lee’s son told her that his 7th birthday was going to be his worst birthday ever, she knew she had to do something.
With fears of COVID-19 shutting down schools, restaurants and local businesses, everywhere that Cannon Lee wanted to go for his birthday party was closed.
Kids across the country are being confined to their homes due to the coronavirus, and parents are having to be creative to keep them entertained and ease their worries.
Creative is exactly what Amber Lee was going for when she posted in her neighborhood Facebook group Tuesday asking for a favor for Cannon.
“Cannon is turning 7 on Thursday and can’t have a birthday party. I’m wondering if I have any neighbors who would be willing to stand on their front porch and tell him happy birthday while we drive by?” she wrote in the Fairmount Neighborhood Facebook page. “I know it’s an odd request... but it will potentially be the shortest birthday party you’ve ever been invited to and would make a fun memory during our time of isolation.”
Lee expected a few replies, if any.
But within a few hours, dozens of people commented saying they would decorate their porches, sing happy birthday and generally make Cannon’s birthday one to remember.
By Thursday, Lee said families from 62 houses were planning on helping surprise Cannon with a “parade of one,” as Lee called it.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I’m really excited, the response was huge. I was expecting people that I know, maybe five to 10 houses.”
At 2 p.m. the Lee family set out in their car, which had a massive pink bow attached to the hood. The weather was warm and sunny, and the family of four passed dozens of other families standing in yards and on porches.
Some wrote happy birthday messages in chalk. Others dressed up, including a woman wearing a giant wig and a man dressed as a Storm Trooper, and another who wore a Spider-Man suit and handed Cannon a present using a plastic stick.
Kids colored signs, dressed up their dogs and danced on the sidewalks. Parents helped decorate patios and waved with babies in their arms.
“It’s been anywhere from two old ladies singing happy birthday on a porch to a big group of people and a clown juggling,” Lee said.
Another woman gave the family cupcakes — safely — and someone else left a goody bag filled with sanitized toys on a porch. At one point, the family heard singing and looked up through their open sunroof to see a little girl up in a tree, singing happy birthday.
“I’m still processing,” Lee said after the event. “It was every street, every block, there was a house. People stayed out the whole time.”
While the original plan was to drive around from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., the family ended up zigzagging through the neighborhood for an hour and a half to catch all the houses.
The best part was the realization Lee had when she got home, exhausted, and sat on the couch.
“I just realized this was the longest we’ve gone without one mention of the word ‘coronavirus,’” she said.
Many of the neighbors had as much fun as the Lee family.
“Just my opinion , but I think we are all feeling a certain amount of anxiety and lack of control with all that is going on in our world today,” neighbor Cari Gurney said over Facebook messenger. “Having the ability to do for one another, take care of our neighbors and friends, and make this little boy’s birthday special is something that we CAN do.”
“I think that is why we were all happy to participate. I wore a giant Afro wig while using sidewalk chalk to decorate for him while on a conference call for my corporate job... these are definitely unique times. Doing it all together as a community, while social distancing makes it all a bit easier!”
Lauren Minor’s two young children drew signs for Cannon and held them up for him to see.
“I think in the time that we’re in of severe isolation, it’s amazing to be reminded that we’re part of a community that cares for one another and finds unique ways to support and celebrate each other,” she said.
Lee said she’s been getting texts from neighbors who want to do the same thing for their kids’ birthdays, and she hopes the community continues to come together in a time that has caused so much fear and uncertainty.
