WACO, TX — Nursing home visitations became virtual or families had to talk to each other through a window when the pandemic began.
Now that Texas is loosening it's restrictions, Alisa Jones got to see her mom, Charlyne Leggette, for the first time in a whole year.
A warm embrace means a whole lot more to Jones after not being able to simply hold her moms hand.
"It was tough, I do think she did much better than us," Jones said.
You take things, like a hug, for granted when that's ripped away from you in an instant.
Jones said she isn't letting anything pass her by now that she gets to see her mom whenever she wants.
"You've been on a journey and you're at the end of that journey so to see her and that reaction it's priceless, it'll be in my memory forever," Jones said.
Leggette says she stayed positive and enjoyed the video call visits from family but she was still counting down the minutes for the day she got to hold them again.
"I just had to pray a lot, I just had to keep on praying," Leggette said.
It only takes one moment for your life to completely change.
"The fact that I couldn't be with them anymore, it hurts, it hurts. But you have to do the things you know you have to do that are right not only for you but for everybody else as well," Leggette said.
There were many "I love you's" shared between Leggette and Jones as they are holding onto these moments and each other.
Last month, the state health department announced that nursing home residents who are fully vaccinated can have visits from their loved ones.
Under the new rules, nursing homes and other long term care facilities can now have outdoor visitation even if there's an outbreak at the facility. Visitation approval from the state is no longer a requirement.
