“It’s 2012. My Grandpa Is Still Alive” — Woman Shares Touching Google Earth Image

A person shared a sweet image of a grandfather that was captured in 2012. Reddit user @Puzzled_ethics9175 posted the viral image to the site's r/MadeMeSmile sub. In it, they showed off the Google Earth image that they said was "for the win" in a caption for their upload.

On the image, the text reads: "Somewhere on Google Earth, it's 2012. My grandpa is still alive and he's teaching me how to play softball." The photograph shows a man standing with two children on a sidewalk.

A house with a red car parked in its driveway can be seen in the background.

Commenters who reacted to the video picked up on other heartwarming details in the Google Earth picture. Like this one user who didn't overlook the fact that the children are shaded by a tree while Grandpa stands in the sun, to ensure that they're staying cool while he gives his softball instruction.

"Ensuring the grandkids are in the shade. Standard class of that generation," someone wrote.

However, someone else wondered about how Google Earth operates and wanted to know whether or not the images uploaded by the tech giant are up to date.

"Genuine question though, doesn't this update every few years? Or once a Google car goes through a street, that view is set for life?" they asked.

However, they soon appended an edit to their comment, sharing that they were introduced to Google Earth's cached catalog of photographs.

"I never knew about this history feature. I am gonna go on a memory lane myself and check out some old places. Thanks," they remarked to other folks on the platform.

Other folks replied that they, too, have been getting nostalgic taking trips down memory lane thanks to this functionality.

"At least for my old neighborhood, I can click back on Google Earth and see past versions. I almost cried when I clicked on the 2009 view," they said.

Also in the comments section were accusations that this particular image has been re-shared for internet karma points by different posters on the application.

Some lamented the fact that it had appeared in so many different subs on Reddit, while others pondered who the original poster is.

"Did you post this photo about 2-3 months ago? I've seen this before. OP is this your grandfather?" one person asked.

Whereas someone else replied that this wasn't the case as they, too, have seen it on numerous occasions whilst browsing the social media site. "No, of course it’s not. This image might be the third most re-posted image on all of Reddit. This gets posted like 10 times per day. I see this more than I see my parents," another Reddit user claimed.

However, Newsweek seems to have found who the original poster of the Google Earth photo is, and it's Lincoln Nebraska volleyball player for the DePaul Demons, Katelynn Oxley.

Katelynn first shared the image in a TikTok photo montage on December 17th, 2024.

Seeing that her grandfather clearly encouraged her interest in athletics at a young age, the caption in her video is all the more fitting. "I miss you so much. You were my biggest role model," she penned.

The first picture in her slideshow shows the same image that was featured in the Reddit post. Next, her departed grandfather can be seen waving to the Google Earth camera as it drives past the three of them playing softball together.

In the third photo, he continues to wave. One of the children, presumably a young Katelynn, can be seen standing in front of the house with what looks like several softballs strewn across the lawn.

Finally, the fourth image shows Grandpa still standing on the sidewalk, with one of the children still standing closer to the home.

Newsweek interviewed Oxley about the day captured on a Google Earth camera car. "I was playing softball in the front yard with my grandpa and little brother. I was hitting and he was pitching the ball when the vehicle was passing," she told the outlet.

She said that she first came across the pictures while learning how to use a computer in elementary school. Several years later, Katelyn learned that Google cached these images and learned how to access them, so she saved them and had them uploaded to her social media account.