A welcome, familiar touch after a rough year

LACONIA — For families, it’s a precious milestone. After a year apart, they’re back to meeting and hugging their loved ones in nursing homes – a gift not taken lightly.

Two months ago, Kathleen Butler of Gilford was allowed to visit her father, David Mulgrew, 89, who lives at St. Francis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center – after he survived the COVID outbreak that claimed many of his fellow residents in January.

“I could have run down the hallway to get to him. We waited a year for the kids to come and give their grandfather a hug,” Butler said.

It was especially hard on Butler’s mother, who, before the coronavirus, came to sit with her husband every day during lunch and dinner. “They’ve been married 60 years. It was hard for her not to come in and hold his hand,” Butler said.

Before COVID, like clockwork on Friday nights, Mulgrew's  family would visit him and bring pizza. “March 13 was the last Friday we did that,” said Butler. “Then we weren’t allowed back for a year.”

Now one or two people can visit across a table in the living room at St. Francis, or in his room once a week. In warm weather, the mini get-togethers occur outside, with less personal protective equipment – a relief to Butler. In the past, it was hard for her father to recognize his family through face shields, masks, gloves and gowns.

“It’s definitely much better to get to hug him,” said Butler’s son, Finn, who is 9 and missed in-person visits with his grandfather. “Sometimes I can get out of school to see him. That’s good, too. It wasn’t that exciting looking through the window.”

“We’re so lucky that he’s here," Butler said. "We’re so lucky that he pulled through” after contracting COVID at the beginning of the year. "To have one resident pass is heartbreaking. Almost 20 passed away. Everyone here worked so hard and was so accommodating. They were the ones holding their hands for us when we couldn’t be here to do that. They would call us every day and let us know how he was doing.”