BYRON CENTER, Mich. — It can be very difficult for families to see their older loved ones right now.
"It's very hard not seeing him, he loves his grandkids and great grandkids," said Pam Gregorski.
However, Pam arranged quite the surprise for her 86-year-old father, Orv Boerman on Friday. Boerman was told to get his coat and shoes on and grab his walker before ending up at the end of the driveway.
"I got out there and she parked me by the road, I said, 'what in the world is going on here?'" He laughed.
Boerman lives alone in Byron Center and is used to getting frequent visits from his five kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those in-person visits haven't been possible.
"I was concerned about what the loneliness and isolation is going to do to his health," said Gregroski, "he sounded a little down. I knew teachers were doing drive-by visits with their students so I thought this might be a good way to cheer him up."
Gregorski got a hold of the rest of the family and organized the visit to show their dad and grandfather how much they miss him.
"She said, 'they're all coming to see you,'" Orv laughed via FaceTime, "so they came and blew the horn and waved and I waved back at them. I thought that was a real nice time and a real nice thing that she did."
With Orv sitting at the end of the driveway, the family rolled by him, some displaying signs of love and others bringing him gifts.
"Some of the grandkids made signs and some of them gave him some of his favorite foods," Gregorski smiled. "I think it was a sense of comfort they wanted to give to him. We did make sure afterwards that I bleached down all the items he was given and his walker."
In times like these, the importance of family cannot be understated and Orv is grateful for it all.
"My wife passed away a couple of years ago and the family has been real good to me," he said, "they bring me food quite a bit. Family is very important to me."
