GILBERT, AZ — It’s hard not to smile when you look at the picture of 101-year-old Rosa Camfield cradling her 2-week old great-granddaughter in her arms.
“Just the look and the love that they share,” said 33-year-old Sarah Hamm of Gilbert, who took thetouching photo of her grandmother and newborn daughter Kaylee Rowland. “You can tell how much that grandma loves that granddaughter.”
The picture, which has since gone viral, was taken on St. Patrick’s Day.
“That was the first moment my grandma got to see my daughter Kaylee,” Hamm explained. “She’s finally here. I remember my grandma saying that and that she loved Kaylee. And, how sweet it was.”
Hamm did what many people do nowadays. She posted the picture to her Facebook page.
Someone else posted it to Reddit and from there, the popular Facebook page “Life of Dad” picked it up.
So far, Hamm’s picture has gotten more than 2.5 million likes and has been shared nearly 80,000 times, in addition to news aggregate sites and mainstream media picking up on the story.
“I’ve posted so many pictures of my other daughter and my grandma and stuff and I don’t know if it’s the age gap,” Hamm said noting the 101 year age difference between Camfield and her youngest daughter. “And, everyone just took a loving, like to that photo.”
Whatever it is, people can relate to it, and dozens have shared their own multi-generational pictures under the Life of Dad post.
It’s a fitting tribute to Camfield, who passed away in her sleep March 31, two weeks after the famous photo was taken.
“She would’ve been delighted and just shocked and amazed really, that technology could do that,” Hamm said.
She said her grandmother was full of life until the very end.
Born on June 13, 1913 – on a Friday the 13 – Camfield spent most of her life in Michigan before moving to Arizona.
Hamm said her grandmother, who loved to crochet and paint, went to college when she was 42 and was a retired elementary school teacher.
Camfield learned how to use a computer in her 80s and even got a tablet two years ago.
Hamm said her grandmother would use the internet to keep up with news in her hometown of Ludington, MI, and email friends and family.
“My grandma loved everyone,” Hamm said. “She was basically everyone’s grandma.”
Camfield leaves behind three children, five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
