Granddaughter Finds Sweet Way to Tell Quarantined Grandfather She's Engaged

Premier Living & Rehab Center
Premier Living & Rehab Center

Carly Boyd, who lives in North Carolina, got engaged over the weekend at Myrtle Beach.

Quarantine couldn’t stop a granddaughter from sharing the news of her engagement with her beloved grandfather who resides in a nursing home.

Carly Boyd, who lives in North Carolina, got engaged over the weekend at Myrtle Beach, and was over the moon. She knew she wanted to tell her 87-year-old grandfather, Shelton Mahala, who she is not able to have in-person visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

So with the help of staff at Premier Living and Rehab Center in Lake Waccamaw, Boyd was able to surprise her grandfather.

“The staff found out I had been engaged and asked if I had told him yet, and when I said no they were like, ‘even with restrictions we can pull up the blinds and you can talk to him,’” she said.

So, on Monday, Boyd showed up at his window. She said because her grandfather has dementia, he was initially confused about why she was talking to him from outside.

“The staff told him and I showed him the ring,” Boyd said. “He was like, ‘when is the wedding?’ And I said next year and he said he hoped he’d be able to go. That’s when I got emotional.”

In a precious photo captured of the moment, Boyd put her hand on the window and he put his there as well.

“We told each other we loved each other and I told him I’d see him real soon,” she said. “It meant so much to me that I was able to tell him face-to-face.”

Nursing home administrator Gennie Parnell posted the sweet photo to Facebook where it gained some traction.

“I know how close she and her grandfather are and I wanted her to have something special to remember the moment,” Parnell told InsideEdition.com. “Nothing was planned or staged. I just stepped back and snapped."

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