Unique Birthday Celebration For Boy In The Time Of Coronavirus

WALNUT CREEK, CA — It stinks to have to cancel your 8th birthday party because of the coronavirus shelter-in-place order, but friends of second grader Christian Vivatson of Walnut Creek managed to make his birthday special anyway with a "bandwagon" complete with signs, balloons and singing, "Happy Birthday!"

Christian's birthday was Monday and his first grade teacher, who happens to be a neighbor, kicked off his special day by decorating the gate of his home with balloons.

Christian's mom, Gillian, said that things got even better from there,"All the parents came together and came up with the idea of the car bandwagon to put a smile on his face to make up for the lack of celebration allowed for his birthday."

The children are classmates at Murwood Elementary School which is closed at least through April, like all schools in the county, to practice social distancing in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

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And what did Christian like best about the bandwagon? "Being able to actually see his friends and talk to them, all be it 6 ft apart," said mom Gillian. "He also loved that they made the signs and brought balloons and poppers."

Although Christian's birthday has passed, his mom hopes this shelter in place will be a bright spot of childhood memories, "I think we all hope that they learn to appreciate family time and what they already have and to also appreciate one another even if you can’t be together."

Do you have a special story about making the most of your time with family? Email autumn.johnson@patch.com

Also see:

California Coronavirus: Live Updates On Cases, Closures, Orders