Toms River Twins Get Birthday Parade As Coronavirus Halts Trip

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Bogota twins were supposed to be in Walt Disney World next week, taking in the parade in Magic Kingdom with family as part of their 5th birthday celebration.

Then the outbreak of the new coronavirus disrupted those plans. That's when Stephanie Romano of Toms River stepped in, throwing them a personal birthday parade on Tuesday to help celebrate their day at a socially safe distance.

"Birthdays are always a big deal with me," said Romano, who has been best friends with Tara Bogota, the twins' mother, since the two women were in fifth grade. "This time is kind of blah right now, and I thought it might be a fun thing to do."

"It was so sweet and thoughtful," Bogota said. "It was probably one of their most memorable birthdays despite the circumstances."

Romano said she was inspired by seeing a similar birthday celebration by a Utah family. So she contacted Bogota's family members and friends, and pulled out decorations and balloons they had on hand.

"We ended up with 10 or 11 cars," Romano said, all of them honking and tossing candy out the windows to Daniel and Adriana, who watched in shock.

"They were really overwhelmed," Bogota said Wednesday. But they haven't stopped talking about the parade since, she said.

"We had to cancel their school party, the family party, and our trip to Disney because Disney is closed," she said, "but at the end of the day our health is the number one priority."

The trip also would have been an opportunity to spend time with Bogota's parents, who spend the winter in Florida, a trip they've made the last two years. "Their grandparents are in Florida for the winter and they're stuck down there," she said.

The kids have taken the cancellations in stride. "They're pretty resilient. If you tell them you're going 'tomorrow' they're 'oh, OK,' " Bogota said.

"We made the best of the day. We made pancakes, they baked their own birthday cake, and we ordered hibachi," she said.

But the parade was a special treat.

Here's the view from Romano's car:

"She told me she was doing something so I could be prepared and be outside with the kids, but she didn't tell me what," said Bogota, who has a 3-month-old in addition to the twins.

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"I wish I had thought of it a week ago," Romano said, because she would have done it on a larger scale. The parade was just in their neighborhood; Romano lives in the home just around the corner from where she grew up, and Bogota lives in the home where she was raised.

"We used to ride bikes to each other's houses when we were kids. We hope someday our kids will be able to do that with each other," said Romano, who has a 3-1/2-year-old daughter, Alessandra, and an infant.

For now, they all are practicing their social distancing. Bogota said the twins attended Toms River Nursery School five days a week, and they have been working on their numbers and letters and sight words. She looks forward to the time when they are back socializing with their classmates.

"But they're safe and healthy right now. That's what matters," she said.

Bogota, who posted the video on Facebook, said she's been overwhelmed by the positive response it's received.

"Friends who are teachers said they want to do something like that for their students," she said.

Romano, who's not on Facebook, said Bogota has shared the feedback with her.

"Tara's brother told me 'Everyone should get a parade,' " Romano said.

"It was magical," Bogota said. "She's the best."

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