For Colton Belli, it was a birthday like no other.
But it wasn’t the one his parents had envisioned.
To celebrate Colton’s fifth birthday, Jennifer and Mike Belli of New Kensington had it all planned out: They would take their son to Disney World.
Then the coronavirus outbreak happened and changed everything. Suddenly, their March 20-25 trip to Orlando, Fla., had to be canceled.
It just so happened that Jennifer Belli was scrolling through social media and came upon a wonderful idea.
“I was on Facebook, and I saw a girl who couldn’t have a party. Her family had people drive by and honk their horns for her,” Jennifer Belli said.
It wasn’t Disney World, but she thought it would make Colton’s special day more special.
“We couldn’t have a party for him, so we just asked some people to come by and wish him happy birthday,” Jennifer Belli said.
So, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, a parade of nearly a dozen cars drove past Colton’s Charles Avenue home, honking their horns loudly for the youngster.
Family. Friends. Coworkers.
“We even had a fire truck drive by,” Jennifer Belli said. “Some people brought presents and balloons for him.”
Once the caravan had passed by, Colton remained outside — joyfully bounding around, playing catch with Dad, swinging his plastic baseball bat, eagerly pursing an elusive balloon.
Did he like the honking cars?
“Yep,” Colton said, as his parents looked on happily.
“We still celebrated,” Jennifer Belli said, “just in a different way. It got everyone out of the house. It was such a beautiful day.”
That it was — especially for Colton.
