It was an extra special 2nd birthday for Lexi Black thanks to the kindness of her neighbours

Birthdays have been hugely different under COVID-19 isolation measures. No more can families rent a public space and invite a hoard of kids over for a sweet and fun-filled afternoon. No more can students invite their classroom of friends to their home for an epic celebration. At first, parents were not sure what they could do to celebrate their children’s special days, but as time went on, people started getting creative.

Posts on social media started to pop up about doing drive-by parties where friends would decorate signs and hang them outside their parent’s vehicle as they very slowly drove by their friend’s home. Pictures and videos of children waving from their driveways, as a parade of well-wishers drove by in front of them, started to become more common. This new type of celebration still lacks the comfort people are used to being able to have, as it removes the ability to give hugs and be close. Even so, it fills an essential role by letting people feel connected to those they care about most.  

Stephanie Black and her husband Dave, have a beautiful family and live in a cozy corner-lot uptown. On May 26, their youngest, Lexi, turned two. Typically, there would have been a gathering that filled the house, but since that was not possible, she came up with the next best thing. “Where we live, a lot of our neighbours have dogs, and they walk them through the field across our street all the time. Lexi loves watching them all day and says, puppy, puppy! She just loves dogs so much, but I am not getting a dog because we have a big enough family already.”

Black decided to put together a Puppy Parade for her puppy-loving little girl. “I put up a sign in the front yard for two weeks to let our neighbours know about our plans.” The sign asked dog owners to walk their pooches by the Black’s residence between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm on May 26. It also stated that they would have treats to share with the four-legged guests.

During the two hours, roughly 20 people walked by with their dogs in tow to help celebrate Lexi’s birthday. “She liked giving the dogs treats. We asked each person if we could pet their dogs and if we could give their dog a treat. She loved getting to do that. Even if she did not want to pet the big dogs, she still absolutely wanted to give them a treat,” laughed Black.

Lexi got to see two big Irish Wolfhounds, a Burmese Mountain Dog, a miniature husky and even a little Yorkie. “It was adorable to see them all. She had lots of fun.” To go along with the Puppy Parade, Black had a puppy cake made by Beth’s Cake Creations. “Without the social distancing, I would’ve just had a party, and I wouldn’t have thought about doing something like this, which I think is super special. It’s something that we can all remember and think back on how neat and different it was, especially for someone who doesn’t own a dog.”

Black said that she is incredibly grateful to her neighbours and all those that made her little girl’s day extra special. “We even had presents dropped off!” She said that she hopes that the sense of community that is happening right now sticks around once all restrictions get lifted. “The neighbourliness is really strong, and I don’t think that’s something that we should let go away when all of this ends because it’s such a positive change.”

She likened it to a silver lining. “This neighbourhood and this community are really helping each other out right now, and that’s how it should be. It feels good.”