How I Feel Not Seeing My Granddaughter For A Year

Last Updated on: 23rd June 2021, 07:43 pm

When I Miss Seeing My Granddaughter

When my son and daughter-in-law discovered they were having a baby, my son asked me to visit more often than we did before. They live in Holland and we live in England, so we would visit every 3 months or so. I told him that we would get over there at least once a month. I didn’t want to miss any of my grandbaby growing up. But now she is nearly 16 months old and seeing my granddaughter is more difficult than we thought.

The pregnancy wasn’t easy on them, especially when they found out about Zoë missing her hand. If ever a baby was put on this world to be loved by so many people, it was Zoë. She was born in March 2020, right at the start of Covid. Do you remember? The time that we never believed Covid would be as bad as it was. We managed to get out to meet her when she was born and we stayed for a few days before flying home to a country that then locked down.

The next few months I got to know my granddaughter by video call. I got to see her milestones through video call and constant photos. It wasn’t the relationship that I wanted with my family, but at least we have this privilege. If we had a global pandemic 10 or 20 years ago, we wouldn’t have the awesome technology that we have these days. But at least I was seeing my granddaughter grow by phone.

The World Opening

Then in July 2020, the world opened! On the day we could leave the UK, I booked on the first plane and arrived in Holland. Travel was so different. Face masks and Covid tests were a big part of the trip. But I was seeing my granddaughter. I got to hug her, I got to soothe her if she cried. But the important thing was that I was there.

We were supposed to stay a week, but Tilly asked if we could stay longer. Every day we watched the world Covid rates and checking whether we were going to get stuck in Holland. I eventually booked the Eurostar home. It broke my heart to leave, not knowing when we would get back out there again. But I think my daughter-in-law was glad to have her home back to herself.

We got home – And the world starting closing down again!

Disappointment

I was so disappointed to see the borders between Holland and UK close again. It broke my heart to be separated again. We made plans to try and get out there before Xmas. With Brexit looming and the whole Covid pandemic, it was going to make trips to Holland, so much harder.

Of course, Christmas didn’t happen! I joked that Zoë would be walking by the time we saw her again. Little did we know that I would see her first steps would be by video call.

Her first birthday came and went, now it has been a year since we went over. Now being Grandma in the phone, is normal for Zoë. I think we are a past disappointment and now it is just impatience.

Seeing My Granddaughter Grow

I am lucky, I do get to see her by phone. But she is nearly 16 months old, and you know what? I haven’t even kissed her yet. I was so scared of passing Covid on to her. So Covid has taken those kisses away from me. Firstly, I need to squish her chubby cheeks. Then I need to kiss her. I need to chase her around the house. And I need to giggle with her. I NEED my granddaughter. So here I am again, waiting for Holland to go green so I can go and see my granddaughter.

FYI, I want to see my son and daughter-in-law too. But we all know its about babies and this grandma has so much love to give this special little girl.