![Socorro Mojjaro Duran celebrates her 91st birthday on her porch in Alhambra on Monday as her son, Guillermo Mojarro, holds her birthday cake and her family drives past in a caravan celebration.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/116f082/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6720x4479+0+1/resize/2000x1333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F77%2Fcd%2Fb5989ef2490291598d8d1ba412f5%2Fla-me-drive-by-birthday-coronavirus-01.jpg)
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The family blew kisses to Socorro Mojjaro Duran on her 91st birthday and sang “Happy Birthday” to her. Same as every year.
Her great-granddaughter, who also was celebrating her fifth birthday, dressed up in a princess costume.
Only this time, it was from a caravan of cars traveling down a residential street in Alhambra.
Social distancing has restricted normal gatherings and celebrations in the age of coronavirus, so we thought we would show you a few creative workarounds.
![Drive by birthday](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/459243e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5373x3285+0+0/resize/2000x1223!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdc%2F41%2Ffc28475845eeb1c45d9d004e1d28%2Fla-me-drive-by-birthday-coronavirus-06.jpg)
![Analis Ilumuna Mosqueda-Mojarro, 5, held by her mom Victoria Mojarro, wore a princess costume to celebrate her own and her great-grandmother Socorro Mojarro Duran's birthdays on Monday in Alhambra.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/384b1c4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4480x6720+0+0/resize/2000x3000!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff3%2Fc1%2Ff2f6a9b643d28222f57886c60ef8%2Fla-me-drive-by-birthday-coronavirus-03.jpg)
70th anniversary
![Libby and Harry Palakow wave to neighbors who gathered outside their Granada Hills home on Wednesday to help the couple celebrate their 70th anniversary.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/281f957/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2667+0+0/resize/2000x1334!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F33%2Fc3%2F1773abe541fc9158c7bc5e35d86a%2F512433-la-me-granada-hills-anniversary-741.jpg)
Harry Polakow was surprised when he heard a knock on his front door. He and his wife Libby are in their 90s and not supposed to have company.
But Wednesday was the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary. And their Granada Hills neighbors were not about to let the coronavirus make them celebrate the day alone.
Carrying flowers, balloons and homemade chocolate cake, they’d gathered — six feet apart, of course — on the lawn, in the driveway and on the sidewalk to toast the pair and serenade them with the “Anniversary Waltz.”
— Sandy Banks
![Jean Lionelli fixes a sign hung outside neighbors Harry and Libby Palakow's home in Granada Hills to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/da3fc8b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2667+0+0/resize/2000x1334!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F03%2F1d%2F1bc60c9644c898a3da9ddd579944%2F512433-la-me-granada-hills-anniversary-791.jpg)
A virtual prom
![Canceled prom in Riverside](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/91e72f6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3074x1895+0+0/resize/2000x1233!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F97%2Fd8%2Fdff954cd4166af53a0a2f15699ce%2Fla-photos-1staff-512723-me-0405-neighborhood-community-12-gmf.jpg)
After celebrating with their nephew via a family video feed to help make up for his canceled prom, the Stowe family from Riverside, in role-reversal costumes, greeted their neighbors keeping social distancing in Riverside. The Stowe family has been coming up with themes to dress in costumes for the past three Sundays to keep some fun in their lives. “We are trying to find little glimmers,” Julie Stowe said.
![canceled prom](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3d06dd9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3900x2541+0+0/resize/2000x1303!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6f%2F8e%2F84a887c54702b4d690844863c58c%2Fla-photos-1staff-512723-me-0405-neighborhood-community-11-gmf.jpg)
Not breaking tradition
![Coronavirus birthday](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8794d70/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6035x4023+0+0/resize/2000x1333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe4%2F73%2F0bcdebe04f96885b61e91889e016%2Fla-photos-1staff-520981-me-0407-coronavirus-birthday-jlc-15243.jpg)
Lucy Cavazos has celebrated Margaret Jones’ birthday with her for the last 20 years and wasn’t going to break that tradition. Jones currently resides in an assisted living facility in Redondo Beach that is not receiving visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
So, Cavalos and her daughter Amber, climbed onto a mechanical lift and were hoisted up to Jones’ second-floor window to keep the tradition alive.
![Assisted living facility in Redondo Beach](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4443f55/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6720x4480+0+0/resize/2000x1333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F72%2F14%2F09c8ade24a1a99bae6c6bb4ac268%2Fla-photos-1staff-520981-me-0407-coronavirus-birthday-jlc-14999.jpg)
![Coronavirus birthday](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ca0b8a0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/8688x5792+0+0/resize/2000x1333!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7d%2Fc1%2Ff44aaf8b4956bbf2a87b02f3aca6%2Fla-photos-1staff-520981-me-0407-coronavirus-birthday-jlc-28843.jpg)
Los Angeles Times’ visual coverage of the coronavirus crisis
It’s our visual prompt to stay away, but stay-at-home orders have given new purpose to caution tape.
Ridership on California’s largest transit system has fallen by more than half during the coronavirus outbreak as life in Los Angeles County has all but ground to a halt, officials say.
These are some of the unusual new scenes across the Southland during the coronavirus outbreak.
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