The pandemic forced so many families to stop visits with elderly grandparents over the past year, to protect them from the coronavirus. But with tens of millions of Americans now vaccinated, joyful reunions are finally happening. A 102-year-old woman in Arizona recently got to see her 6-year-old great-grandson after a lengthy separation, and the sweet video shows how kids make us all young at heart.

Angie Contreras shared the video of her husband’s grandmother, Julia Fulkerson, on her Instagram page. She wrote that since she and her husband had both been vaccinated, they finally felt comfortable visiting the beloved 102-year-old. Their 6-year-old son Brody was especially excited to show off his great-grandma during remote school, and the centenarian ended up hopping into his virtual gym class. The pair march, stomp and smile their way through the class before Brody appears to fall over laughing. “This was quite honestly one of the most special moments ever,” Angie wrote.


data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">

The video quickly went viral, with commenters chiming to say how amazed they were by Fulkerson’s energy and spirit. From appearances on local media to Good Morning America, Contreras says Fulkerson took her brush with fame in stride.

“I couldn’t be more grateful that the world saw and rejoiced in how amazing this lady is. She is truly a legend and brings so much joy to so many hearts—I know no one more worthy of this,” Contreras wrote of her grandmother-in-law. “And if I may try and summarize: she literally went global— but what means the most to her is this may make her small hometown’s local paper. We love you, Grandma Julia!”

We love Grandma Julia, too—and hope many more families get to experience the same kind of happy reunions.