What a Peabody boy thought might be the worst birthday ever due to the coronavirus pandemic canceling his party plans turned out to be one of the best yet.
Young Jianni DiMichele thoroughly enjoyed a video he saw on 7NEWS back in April of a cowboy riding his horse to an IHOP in Salem, giving his mom, Lisa Pisapia, an idea for the perfect birthday surprise.
“He got a kick out of it,” she recalled. “He was laughing; he was like, ‘Oh my god,’ so I was like, ‘Hmm, his birthday is coming up.”
Pisapia reached out to the cowboy in the video, Matt Lovejoy, of Wenham, and asked him to make Jianni’s sixth birthday celebration extra special.
Lovejoy agreed and surprised Jianni on his horse, Echo, at his farm, where he showed off some of his tricks.
Jianni and his mom also got to go for a ride on another horse, Hercules, with his owner Nancy.
“His mouth opened with awe. He had a smile from ear to ear,” Pisapia said. “He was like, “This is the best birthday ever. I’m a big boy; I ride big horses.’ It was just the best feeling to see that smile on his face.”
Pisapia added that because of the 7NEWS story her son saw, along with Lovejoy and everyone at the farm, her son’s birthday couldn’t have turned out any better.
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