“They’re coming, they’re coming!” yelled Rowan from his front steps at the sounds of horns, soon to be followed by the sight of Skipp the Clown marching up the Farquharson family’s driveway in Rochester and leading a parade of warm wishes for a kid whose birthday party couldn’t be held on a picnic table packed with friends and a backyard run over with relatives.
On April 29, Rowan Farquharson turned six years old.
At a time when a child is old enough and young enough to enjoy the loudest, most boisterous birthday party that family and friends can give, they couldn’t give, thanks to Rowan’s mysterious immune system.
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, there was no way Rowan could have a traditional birthday party.
“Had we gone back to school this year, he’s someone who would have been kept out,” said his mother Hillary, a Marshfield native who works at High Point Treatment Center as chief of communications and prevention. “We keep everything very, very tight and secure.”
Rowan is the middle child among three boys. Cillian is seven years old and a first-grader at Sippican School, and baby brother Wolfgang is seven months old.
Since age two, Rowan has been beset with severe allergic reactions including hives, facial swelling and for the past two years, anaphylaxis. He’s been to hospitals in Boston and been tested multiple times according to Hillary without a conclusion.
“In February, his doctors at Boston Children’s determined that this is just how his body treats a viral load. Usually about three days after a reaction, he tests positive with another viral illness like the flu or pneumonia. This puts him at a higher risk for viral issues because he already goes into an illness at a disadvantage,” explained Hillary in an email.
She said it’s not the same as a peanut allergy; there is nothing Rowan’s parents can do to prevent the severe reactions. “We can only react,” said Hillary. “Rowan has to carry an (epinephrine auto-injector pen) with him at all times and can only be with adults who are trained to use it. In the setting of COVID(-19), we can, to use the maritime term, ‘batten down the hatches’ to keep him safe. His risk is greater and it’s going to take a lot longer for his reality to go back to normal than it will for a lot of his peers.”
His father Seth, a Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate, is out to sea for long stretches as a merchant marine and is only able to be home for family events every other year. With Seth home, the family knew how tough it would be not to give Rowan a proper sixth birthday party.
Seth’s brother Jeremy Farquharson, a Carver police officer, made sure to add a splash of fluttering blue lights to the cavalcade that featured balloons, streamers, custom-made signs and stops outside the front door to exchange greetings, hold brief discussions and shout, “Happy Birthday Rowan!”
Aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, friends and even Rowan’s Kindergarten teacher Melissa Rogers stopped by.
Skipp the Clown led three processions, the first on foot, the second on his conventional unicycle and finally on his extra-tall unicycle.
Once a professional clown with several famous touring companies, Pawtucket, Rhode Island native Henri Emery II left the circus life for a plumbing career. But he was happy to shake off the rust and, true to form for a professional entertainer, cut no corners and took that extra-tall ride like he hadn’t missed a show.
Skipp’s wig was bright blue on Rowan’s birthday. “I have four different ones. They’re made from an animal, the yak,” he said before wheeling over to greet a car full of children before the cavalcade began its parade up the Farquharsons’ driveway.
Rowan, reached by phone earlier in the day, was already excited about his bedroom makeover. “Then I got a sleeping bag,” he said. “I’ve got a parade tonight with some of my friends, and then some people are going to come by with cars. And on September 2nd my little baby brother is going to get his birthday… I might make something. My baby brother is very cute.”
Maybe when older brother Cillian Farquharson turns seven on September 20, he and Wolfgang will have enjoyed more traditional birthday parties. But Rowan’s was special in its own way, and once Skipp the Clown and the honking cars fill of aunts and uncles and grandparents and teachers disappeared, burgers and a vanilla cake awaited inside.
“I think I speak for every mother of an immune-compromised child when I say that I am grateful that the schools aren’t opening back up for this year, but I am heartbroken for all that they will miss,” said Hillary. “Kindergarten is a big year and there are a lot of important milestone occasions that he won’t get. If we could at least give him this, we wanted to. We got lucky that we have incredible friends and family who wanted to make today special for Rowan.”
By Mick Colageo