Carly Boyd thought it might be a while before she could show her grandfather her new engagement ring because his nursing home isn't allowing visitation due to the coronavirus.
It turned out that all they needed was a pane of glass between them to still be able to share a tearful and beautiful moment on Monday.
Boyd held her right hand up to her grandfather's window at Premier Living and Rehab Center in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina, where he was able to see the ring and then place his right hand on the window as she held back tears.
Gennie Parnell, an administrator for the home, helped facilitate the sweet moment.
"She was right there with her hand pointing to it,'' Parnell told NBC News. "He was laying up there eating some ice cream. He is the sweetest gentleman.
"He got up to see it better and she put her hand up on the window and he put his hand on the window, and we all just fell apart."
Photos of the moment posted by the nursing home have gone viral on Facebook as Americans adjust to the reality of numerous restrictions on daily life imposed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Premier Living and Rehab Center has halted all visitation based on recommendations by top public health officials.
"So glad I was allowed to see my grandfather, even under the circumstances of this virus I was still able to tell him I am engaged!!" Boyd wrote on Facebook. "Thank you premier living staff!!"
Boyd, who is studying at Southeastern Community College in North Carolina to become a registered nurse, got engaged to boyfriend Trevor Sellers this past weekend.
Boyd and her grandfather, Shelton Boyd, are very close. She had done his laundry and was dropping it off at the home Monday when the staff noticed her new ring.
"The activities director was talking to her and I heard her say something like 'congratulations' and I realized she had gotten engaged over the weekend,'' Parnell said. "We were standing there talking and she kept glancing over that way where his room is, and as they were getting ready to leave, it hit me.
"I said, 'Would you like to go to the window to say hey?' And she said, 'Can I?' I said, 'Sure!'"
The scene was reminiscent of others around the world between elderly people under quarantine and their loved ones.
A scene in Washington state showed an 88-year-old woman looking through the glass at her husband of more than 60 years as he sat in isolation. In Spain, neighbors serenaded a woman under quarantine in honor of her 80th birthday.
The staff at the home in North Carolina savored the special moment between Boyd and her grandfather during a difficult time.
"It happened exactly like I thought it would,'' Parnell said. "We’re a mom-and pop-facility, just a one-owner facility. I feel like that makes it a little bit different, more family-like. We love our residents."