'I thought it would just be a regular day': Toronto teen surprised with birthday parade

Friends surprise 13-year-old with birthday parade Friends and family surprised a 13-year-old girl with a birthday parade after her celebrations were put on hold due to COVID-19.

TORONTO — Addy Greenglass said she only wanted on thing for her birthday. She wanted to see her friends.

It’s a request that normally would be easy to accommodate, but these aren’t normal times and Greenglass’ family decided she wouldn’t have a normal birthday.

“What does a 13-year-old girl want more than hanging out with her friends?” asked Addy’s mom, Deborah Weir-Greenglass. “So we gave her the next best thing that we could which was having them all come by and wave and cheer and sing.”

Down the street from Addy's Toronto home, more than a dozen vehicles lined up decorated with streamers, balloons and signs. Sanitized party favours and noise makers were handed out with gloves and barbecue tongs. At 4 p.m., a convoy of cars began its drive towards the Greenglass house.

Inside the home, Addy's family told her to go out to the front lawn as the first vehicle approached. With horns honking, music blasting, and people shouting birthday wishes, the procession quickly filled the normally quiet street. A surprised Addy said "there were a lot of them" admitting it was "kind of overwhelming but there were a lot of people!"

The celebration even brought neighbours out of their homes, standing in their driveways watching with amusement, as Addy's friends, cousins, even her teacher drove by to offer birthday wishes.

Addy said she's seen birthday parades in videos on social media and that's exactly where her mother got the idea. Weir-Greenglass told CTV News Toronto that when she suggested the idea to family and friends, the response was immediate and overwhelming.

"It’s a great opportunity to get out of the house and it gave them a craft activity to do with their kids,” she said.

“It’s a very confusing time for everyone right now and anything we can do to bring a smile to people’s faces these days is probably something we should be doing."

Before the COVID-19 restrictions came in to effect, Addy's family was planning her Bat Mitzvah. The service and party was scheduled for the end of May, but has been put on hold indefinitely.

In the meantime, Addy got a surprise celebration with appropriate social distancing and a birthday she will never forget.