The lockdown has caused family members to maintain distance from one another to avoid getting contaminated. But an adorable moment was shared on social media when an ecstatic pensioner got to meet her great-grandchild for the first time from the upstairs window of her house after being stuck inside for seven weeks.
Joan Cartwright, 92, met her grandson, Will, and his wife, Jen, who visited her to introduce her to her sixth great-grandchild Holly.
The elderly lady can be seen with her arms flung out through the open window of her flat in Horsforth, Leeds as Will, 36, stood in the garden below holding up his baby so Joan could see her.
The couple said it was an ’emotional moment’ as she shouted down: ‘I hope I can hold her one day.’
Joan lost her husband Ron a few years ago and has stayed at her flat for the last seven weeks to protect herself from the virus.
Will, a chartered town planner, said, ‘We don’t know how old Holly will be before she can properly meet our parents and grandparents.
‘My Nanna doesn’t have a smartphone or computer or anything. She doesn’t have Wifi so it’s quite difficult. She was delighted when we rang her and said we were outside.
‘She doesn’t have her own garden. She’s stuck inside and she isn’t seeing anyone, except for things being dropped off.’
Holly was born at Airedale General Hospital on March 13 – just 10 days before the lockdown began.
Holly is Will’s second child with Jen, 34, an HR business partner at a university, they also have two-year-old Noah. Jen said it was very emotional, especially for Joan as she is used to having the grandchildren around for tea.
The couple had sent her some pictures of baby Holly, which she put on the mantelpiece. Joan’s daughter, Judith Waterworth, also lives nearby and has been delivering food for her mother and talking to her through the window.
Joan keeps herself busy doing crosswords and competitions, watching films and trying not to watch less of the news. She says, ‘I’m missing everyone lots and can’t wait to get all the family together once this is all over.’
