ANDERSON — Celebrating a big life moment the way we normally would is not possible right now. Whether it be the birth of a baby, a marriage or even a birthday, we’ve seen a lot of creativity when it comes to celebrating.
Bells, horns, music and signs, all from six feet away, seems to be the new way we celebrate our loved ones and for my friend, Cooper Young, of Anderson, this small celebration means a lot.
This weekend Young celebrated a birthday different than any other.
Young turned 31 this year. He was born with Down Syndrome and because of that his immune system is compromised and he hasn’t been able to leave his house for more than a month. So his family and friends found a way to celebrate him with a drive by birthday party.
“I was wondering how we were going to do that. It’s just the three of us,” said Cooper's mom, Sherry Thomas.
Thomas said they always make a big celebration of birthdays and she’s thankful everyone could come together for a surprise parade. Although, she did have to tell him the parade was coming because Young likes to hug.
“I told him a little bit earlier that we were doing a parade and he couldn’t hug anybody because otherwise he would want everyone to get out and hug him, so he couldn’t do that, but he loved the parade,” Thomas said.
And although the birthday party was small and only lasted a few minutes, Thomas said it’s something she won’t forget.
“They’re huge. It’s one of those things you’ll remember forever just because it happened when it happened and how we did it, but we made the best of it and i thought it was fabulous. I loved every minute of it. I wanted to hug everybody,” Thomas said.
There has been a lot of discussion on social media on whether or not these birthday parades should stick around once the country gets back to normal. We want to know what you think, head over to my Twitter or Facebook page and weigh in.