SNOWGRANNY STEPS UP WITH LOVE
Like many grandparents who can’t hug their grandchildren in these COVID-19 times, Myrna Lemky has tried to find other ways to keep those connections tight.
That dump of wet snow she found on her front lawn Monday morning provided that opportunity, one that will allow Lemky to touch the hearts of all kids in her Prince George neighbourhood.
She used that fresh white stuff to make Snowgranny, an apron-wearing snowwoman.
“I’m isolated, of course, like everyone else, and my grandchildren are isolated, so I can’t go near them or anything,” said Lemky. “So I made a big granny snowman for them on my front yard that everybody is stopping and looking at and saying, ‘Hey, that makes me feel better.’
“It’s just kind of to send my love out there to all the grandchildren out there who maybe don’t have someone to give them that love right now or they’re isolated people and they just need a bit of that.”
She and her oldest granddaughter have been making snowmen and dragons on the lawn every winter for several years and they’ve always taken pictures with them standing next to their creations but this year didn’t get that chance.
“I just wanted too make that for her and let her know I was thinking of her,” said Lemky.
On the stick arms of her snowwoman, decked out in its bright red apron, Lemky hung cutout cardboard hearts and also stuck some of those hearts on the front window of her house at 4187 Baker St.
The heart-in-the-window concept is part of growing made-in-Prince George phenomenon that’s developed into an online scavenger hunt. To help keep them occupied during spring break, kids are being encouraged to make decorative hearts for their own houses. They’ve been posting photos of those hearts on Facebook sites they see in their neighbours’ windows when they go for walks.
Lemky and her husband Ken have made a point of staying away from everybody to protect themselves from the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has proved especially deadly to seniors and people with compromised immune systems. Lemky’s eight-year-old granddaughter understands why they can’t get close to grandma and grandpa, but that’s difficult to explain to her younger sister, who is not yet two.
“She asks for me but there’s really nothing we can do,” said Myrna.
“They live in Prince George but we’re all staying totally isolated away from everybody to make sure we don’t get into any trouble or mischief. It’s just the thing to do right now and we have to make sure we all do that.”