A BIRTHDAY AWAY
Lawrence girl turns 7 as family sent packing in gas emergency hunkers down at N.H. hotel
Yesterday was Kourtney Rivera’s seventh birthday.
Usually her mother, Yohanny Cespedes would throw a big party at their house for family and friends, complete with a bounce house. This year, things are different — the family is displaced from their home following the Sept. 13 gas explosions that are still affecting the Merrimack Valley.
A big party at home is swapped for a small gathering at Cespedes’ mother’s house where there isn’t enough room outside for a bounce house. Cespedes and her husband, along with their daughters 9-month-old Kianny Rivera and 4-year-old Kylee Rivera, stayed at a hotel in Salem, N.H., last night on Columbia Gas’ dime and they will stay there until service is restored to their home. Columbia Gas has put up hundreds of families in area hotels as chilly weather sets in and residents run out of options to stay warm without gas in their home.
Kourtney doesn’t seem to mind the atypical birthday celebration. She left school wearing a paper birthday crown and Cespedes picked her up toting a bouquet of balloons before driving to her mother’s house. Kourtney said she likes being in the hotel. “I’m going to stay there again and again and again.”
The three girls play with toys and their grandmother sings “happy birthday nina bella” to Kourtney. The house fills with the smell of rice, beans and pork, and Kourtney fields birthday phone calls from relatives. A couple of cousins trickle into the house and the family eats dinner together with a special birthday treat for the girls — Coca-Cola. After the family sings “Happy Birthday,” Kourtney cuts her Oreo ice cream cake herself and hands out slices to her sisters and cousins.
Soon after the celebration, the girls are changing into tights and tutus to go to dance class. It’s their last stop of the evening before heading back to the hotel where they will wash up and go to sleep. Cespedes said she was relieved when she got a call Wednesday afternoon that she could check into a hotel.
“I was happy and for now we are not cold anymore,” said Cespedes. However, she told the Herald she hopes they won’t be there for too long. Cespedes runs a small business out of her home and said she has already noticed the extra time and gas money the back-and-forth is going to take.
“I want to be home because I can do everything better at home,” said Cespedes.
Cespedes said the unusual circumstances of this birthday will make it a memorable one for her and Kourtney. “We’re going to remember the whole thing forever,” she said. “I’ll be hoping that it won’t ever happen again.”