Salem First Responder Gets Birthday Parade: Watch

SALEM, NH — What do you get for the busy emergency room physician assistant, who has a long commute to work, and probably anything she could want or need anyway, during the new coronavirus pandemic? How about a parade to say, "Thank you"? Well, that's exactly what Jim Leger of Middleton, Massachusetts, did for his sister, Michelle Tautkus, of Salem Saturday.

Knowing they weren't going to be able to have a family gathering due to the outbreak, he and his mother asked family members, friends, and even Salem police and firefighters, to drive by Tautkus' house on Wheeler Avenue at 2 p.m. to offer birthday wishes and thanks.

And Leger's family and friends didn't disappoint — aunts, uncles, cousins, and other first responders, who know what the job entails, about 40 cars in all, drove up and down the avenue, right on schedule, honking their horns, holding signs, and offering a few gifts and quick pleasantries, from safe social distancing.

Tautkus was not only shocked but overwhelmed.

As each car went by, she stood and smiled, waved, said thank you, and turned away, too, holding back tears of happiness. Leger, beaming while the cars and trucks drove by, gave a big thumbs up, watching his sister be overwhelmed by the parade.

"We wanted to do something for her," he said. "Obviously, today was a phenomenal day … to the first responders, we love you, and thank you."

When Tautkus was asked if this was the best birthday she ever had, she said it was the best she could remember.

"This has been more than I could ever dream of," she said. "I'm overwhelmed … I don't have words, actually."

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