‘It brought a tear to her eye…’

 

As the country struggles to come to terms with relative lockdown enforced by the spread of the Covid-19 virus, families are doing their utmost to ensure some sense of normality prevails.

Josie Cullen from Corlismore celebrated her birthday today, though not in the fashion she would usually be accustomed to.

After advise that elderly or medically vulnerable people, including those with underlying illnesses should reduce contact with others, Josie has taken to staying indoors. But to make sure that she did not miss out on any celebrations, her family still rallied round, and with grandsons Noah (3) and Sean (7) visiting her home window to sing her a heartfelt and rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

Son Paul explains that the Cullen family have always celebrated Josie’s own birthday as much as St Patrick’s Day itself, and we’re left with a conundrum of how to mark the occasion given the recommended measures to prevent further spread of the Coronavirus.

He explains that the national holiday would generally be spent with Josie enjoying the local parades and generally being out and about.

“Its strange this year with all that’s happening. We thought about calling her on the phone to wish her Happy Birthday in the morning. But I’ve the farm out at the house, and the boys come out to help me. So on our trip back we decided to call and visit her and the boys took the notion to sing her Happy Birthday through the window and brighten up her day a bit.”

Josie was understandably “over the moon” at the wonderful gesture.

 

 

“She was delighted, yeah. It brought a tear to her eye. It lovely really, the boys think the world of her, and she loves them,” recalls Paul.

The act of sincere kindness is all the more lovely and poignant given that in his annual St Patrick's Day message, President Michael D Higgins, asked people to look out for each other, especially the most vulnerable, during the coronavirus crisis.

Paul adds: “That’s exactly it. It’s important, that in the middle of all this, whoever they are, that elderly people are not forgotten. I know even that little bit of effort today for mam’s birthday meant a lot to her.

"We’d all generally crowd round her for her birthday, and with the kids, so not having that this year is obviously very tough. Tough on her and tough on us not to be with her. Something like that, even something small, was enough to bring a smile to her face and that’s what matters most," says Paul.