‘We know you get lonely’ - Family leave 74-year-old grandmother surprise on Mother’s Day

As families celebrated Mother’s Day from a distance at the weekend, one Thetford grandmother said she was left “overwhelmed” as she came across a surprise left in her garden.

Sheila Rourke was surprised by her family on Mother's Day despite not being able to spend it with them. Photo: Sheila Rourke - Credit: Sheila Rourke

Although Sheila Rourke, 74, from Croxton Road, in Thetford, has been separated from her family due to the coronavirus outbreak, they did not fail to make her feel special this Mother’s Day.

Now the mother-of-four and grandmother-of-twelve hopes others are encouraged to deliver small acts of kindness for those they love.

Ms Rourke said: “I just got up on Saturday morning and there was a knock on my door. I opened it and my kids were at the other end of the garden, but they had left me a banner signed by my whole family and lots of balloons.

“They said ‘I know we can’t come in, and we know you get lonely so happy Mother’s Day’. It was so overwhelming, but it really cheered me up.

“Tell your family you love them. If you can’t go in their house, stand at the garden or Facetime them, you don’t know how much it means to someone when they are feeling lonely.”