For many of us, social distancing guidelines have separated us from family members for far too long. Going weeks or longer without so much as glimpse or a hug of our loved ones can be hard to bear — especially for essential workers, who have no choice but to stay away, because their exposure to the virus at work poses serious risks. But recently, Cheryl Norton just couldn't stay away from her daughter Kelsey Kerr any longer. After more than a month without touching, Norton wrapped her daughter, who works as an ICU nurse, in a sheet — and gave her a great big 'ole hug. The moment was captured in a stirring photo that's going viral.
The loving photo was snapped by Liz Dufour of the Cincinnati Enquirer -- a friend of the family who happened to be passing by.
According to Norton, the hug was spur of the moment. She knew her daughter would be coming by to say hello at a safe distance, but moments before she arrived, Norton spotted a clean sheet in her laundry basket.
Within seconds, she had an idea.
What if she could safely give her daughter that long-awaited hug she'd been wanting to?
Safely wrapped in a sheet, to avoid any skin-to-skin contact, Norton could embrace her daughter without transferring any germs that could spread the virus.
And so, that's just what they did.
Norton later shared that the moment meant everything to her.
“It felt like my heart went, ahhh. It felt so good to hold her for a second," the 64-year-old mother told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "The thing that was interesting about the photograph is you could see how tight she was holding me. It was like she was home again. She was safe in my arms. For that moment, for that split second, she was safe.”
According to Good Morning America, the family has been playing it extra-safe because of Kerr's job and because Norton has pre-existing conditions.
In fact, so does Norton's husband, who lives with her at their home in Blue Ash, Ohio, about 15 minutes away from their daughter.
The morning show reported that Kerr has been safely quarantining with her husband at home in between her shifts at the hospital, but she has occasionally stopped by her parents to say hello or drop off supplies while maintaining a safe distance.
“I just want to know she’s okay, so when I got that one opportunity to see her, I just had to throw that sheet over her,” the mom told GMA. “I thought, ‘I want to hug her, and if she has a sheet around her maybe I can do it.’”
The heart-tugging moment is nothing if not relatable right now.
The nation has been under an order from the president to observe social distancing guidelines through April 30 — a date that could be extended if we haven't flattened the curve by then. In the meantime, millions of families are struggling to stay connected while living apart.
It's also a sad reminder to all of us about the importance of face-to-face contact, touch, and, yes, the incredible power of a hug. Especially one that comes from your mama.
“It was so nice,” Kerr told GMA, adding that she was also wearing a face mask at the time. “We’ve always been big huggers and it’s been pretty unusual to do these drop-offs and not get out of the car and be able to hug her.”
When the pair was through, Norton left the sheet in the garage for several days, just to be sure it didn't carry the virus.
Speaking with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Norton added that her reasoning behind the hug was mixed.
"I did it for me. But that was kind of selfish,” she admitted. “I did it for her also because I didn’t want her to feel like she was contaminated.”
After hearing that many health care workers have felt isolated in the last month, Norton didn't want her daughter to feel the same. It's safe to say she certainly doesn't.
