Woman Finds Special Way To Share Engagement News With Quarantined Grandfather

LAKE WACCAMAW, N.C. (CBS Local) -- With so many older Americans on lockdown in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, all kinds of people are finding safe ways to stay connected with society's most vulnerable citizens during the coronavirus crisis.

A North Carolina woman who got engaged over the weekend refused let anything get in the way of her sharing the special news with her grandfather, who lives at Premier Living and Rehab Center in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina.

"I really wanted to be able to tell my grandfather because he has dementia and there's no phone in there that he has access to," Carly Boyd told CBS affiliate KOLD.

Staff suggested she walk around the build and tell him through the window. It was a moment she will never forget.

"I just … it was very --oh my gosh, I'm going to cry -- it was very special," Boyd said. "I got really emotional and really sad and I just put my hand on the window, and he put his there too. I just told him I love him, and he said 'I love you too and I hope to see you soon', like really see you."

Boyd hopes to have her grandfather at her wedding next year.

Bob and Nancy Shellard, of Vernon, Connecticut, have been married 67 years and never spent an anniversary apart.

But, Nancy is in a nursing home in Somers that has restricted visitors due to safety concerns over COVID-19. So this year, the long-time couple had to celebrate in a unique way.

Bob stood outside of her window with balloons and a hand-made sign that read, "I've loved you 67 years and still do."

Despite suffering from memory loss, Nancy waived from a second-floor window and blew her husband of more than six decades kisses.

"Nothing's changed as far as how much I love her," Bob told WTNH. "And I want her to know about it."

The family of Elizabeth Gerich, 90, set up chairs outside Crestfield Rehabilitation Center & Fenwood Manor in Manchester, Connecticut, to visit her.

"To bring a smile to her day and maybe some laughter too, we brought our chairs to her window to visit," Laura Gerich-Grady, Gerich's granddaughter," told CBS affiliate WFSB.

Smiling faces were not the only thing the family brought to Gerich.

"Her son Cliff Gerich brought her favorite bird feeder as she enjoys spending time watching the birds," Gerich-Grady said.

Gerich's great grandchildren, Michael and Malea, daughter-in-law Jeanette Gerich and Gerich-Grady said they all enjoyed a visit while keeping a safe distance.

And it's not just immediate family members who are getting into the act.

Two bagpipe players spread some St. Patrick's Day cheer, parading around the campus of the Lorain nursing home, Ohio.

"It was awesome to see all the residents in their windows waving and smiling," he told WEWS.