Long Island Family Gets Creative To Hug Grandmother Battling Cancer
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ST. JAMES, N.Y. (WCBS) — The coronavirus pandemic has limited physical contact for everyone as a way of avoiding spreading the virus.
For patients battling cancer or residents of nursing homes, that can be particularly hard.
Some creative Long Island residents, however, have found a way to maintain safety while also allowing for physical contact.
Marilyn Grinere, of St. James, is a mother of three as well as a grandmother who is currently battling cancer.
Her youngest child, Kristy, helped get the ball rolling on a creative way to stay distant and get close at the same time.
“It was something real that we could use to hug my mom,” Kristy Grinere said. “For once, something positive.”
Her boyfriend, Andrew Peshkur, and Marilyn’s son-in-law Scott Trafas came up with the design. A plastic sheet is held between two metal poles. The sheet has a clear plastic window and four plastic sleeves for arms.
Marilyn Grinere stood on one side of the sheet while her children and grandchildren took turns standing on the other side, placing their arms in the sleeves and reaching to the other side of the sheet for a safe hug.
Peshkur and Trafas constructed their invention in a single day.
“Someone else created it, and I immediately thought of Scott because he’s a very creative guy, and we were like, let’s just do this,” Peshkur said.
“I just feel so much better,” Marilyn Grinere said after hugging her family members.
Daughter Danielle Trafas says the invention is especially helpful for her children.
“It’s hard for them to understand that they can’t go close, too,” she said.
“So does this help?” CBS2’s Dave Carlin asked.
“It helps. It helps. It does help. It’s still hard, but it helps,” Danielle Trafas said.
“When you finally touch each other, it’s, all these emotions just come up,” Marilyn Grinere said. “It was very hard to let go.”
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With proper disinfecting, the handy invention will continue to hold up for round after round of laughter and happy tears.
This is not the first or only invention to come from people who are hungry for affection and human contact.
Earlier this month, a grandma in Burlington County, New Jersey, popped into an inflatable pink unicorn costume to the delight of her two grandsons.
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