Newborn photos usually feature grandparents cradling their grandchild, lovingly looking at the miracle they are holding in their arms. For this Irish granddad, however, the picture looks a lot different. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this new dad had no choice but to introduce his son to his grandfather through a glass window.
Emma Gallachoir, the sister of first-time dad Míchéal Gallachoir, shared a photo of the heartbreaking moment on Twitter.
“Three generations of social distancing as my dad meets his grandson for the first time,” she captioned the post.
The picture shows Míchéal holding baby Faolán by the window as his father is seen looking at his first grandchild from outside. His facial expression reflected both affection and sadness. The granddad was clearly in awe of the little human being, already feeling so much love for the child the moment he laid his eyes on him. However, knowing that he would have to wait for months before he can hold Faolán in his arms breaks his heart.
In less than 24 hours, the poignant photograph has been retweeted almost 65,000 times. At the time of writing, the post has earned 723.2k likes and 96.2k shares. Many couldn’t help but comment on the moving picture.
“My goodness please look after your Dad with all your might (even if you have to hold him hostage in his shed!) I need to see him holding his first grandchild on the other side of all this,” wrote one user.
“I know this is a joyous occasion, and congrats to you, but at the same time, it’s heartbreaking to see the look on your father’s face,” commented another.
The Gallachoir family lives just outside of Dublin. Míchéal told Today that his wife went into labor on March 13 and gave birth the next day, just when Irish health officials urged the whole county to practice social distancing.
“Our district nurse would come on to sterilize all our clothes that we wore to the hospital,” he recalled.
When they left the hospital, the new parents were advised to avoid contact with anyone, even with their own families. As Míchéal’s father lived close by, he decided to visit one weekend to meet his grandson, even if he knows that he wouldn’t be able to hold him.
Míchéal said that he had been holding the baby for a few minutes when his wife took the photo.
“Because we have no visitors, she posted it to relatives through WhatsApp and sent it to my sister,” he explained. “My sister posted in on Twitter, and we didn’t think too much of it, really.”
After the photo went viral, Emma shared an update on her Twitter account.
“Thanks everyone for your lovely messages! The good news is baby Faolán is doing great and oblivious to his new fame,” the new aunt wrote.
Emma also shared an update about his dad: “My dad is also doing well and is completely oblivious to his new fame. He wouldn’t let me take a pic of him but he’s smiling!”
Hopefully, the next picture we see of this grandpa is him cuddling baby Faolán!