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Bonsall girl's '13 in Quarantine' birthday a special one

"I am so lucky to have such great friends that have some pretty amazing moms," Kaitlyn McKinney told her mother after watching some of her closest friends drive by her house offering surprise birthday wishes.

The surprise birthday party parade was organized by soccer parents from Kaitlyn's soccer team, Fallbrook Villa '07 Girls, Dylan Deforest and Amanda Lucy.

"I had reached out to the team to see if the girls would send a video birthday wish for Kaitlyn because I wanted to put together a video montage for her, since she wasn't able to be with her friends on her birthday," Trisha McKinney said. "Dylan Deforest asked if they could arrange something, if we would be ok with a birthday parade and of course I said 'Yes.'"

About 10 to 12 cars paraded by for a surprised Kaitlyn, including members of her soccer team and friends from her school, Sullivan Middle.

"She was overjoyed and in complete shock," Trisha said. "When it was over, she and I were talking and she started to cry. Kaitlyn didn't believe that I didn't arrange it at first, I told her that Mrs. Deforest and Mrs. Lucy asked if they could do this for her, she cried again and said, 'they are the best!'"

Trisha said the birthday was a big one for her daughter.

"Becoming a teenager is a milestone and something she has been looking forward to for some time," Trisha said. "Kaitlyn has a larger than life personality, feeds off of positive energy, loves celebration of any kind and what brings her true joy is being surrounded by those she loves and cares about. So, not being able to have a party or give her a day where she was able to physically be with her friends and family was difficult, for us as parents. Her dad and I were working all day and on back to back phone calls and Zoom meetings and had very little time with her during the day. She was moping around the house and bummed – we felt horrible."

Then the surprise happened.

"Seeing the surprise and pure joy on Kaitlyn's face will forever be ingrained in my mind, but what it did for everyone's spirits was the most precious gift of all, I still tear up when I think about it," Trisha said. "It reminded us that love, compassion, friendship and community are so incredibly important during times of uncertainty and how grateful and blessed we are to have such caring people in our lives.

"We would like to thank Dylan and Amanda for arranging the birthday caravan, Kaitlyn's teammates and friends, all the parents who took the time to drive their girls by and those who weren't able to make it but sent such kind birthday wishes for Kaitlyn."

The family finished the day with Zoom calls with family across the country singing "Happy Birthday" and a birthday wish montage from friends and family.

"At the end of the day, Kaitlyn said, 'Wow, this was a perfect day ... I didn't think it was going to be special but it turned out perfect,'" Trisha said.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].

 

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