Our grandmother was diagnosed with dementia. She raised her family in Akron, Ohio and had six children. Once diagnosed, and out of concern for her safety, they placed her in a Catholic run assisted living facility in Fairlawn. Her Catholic faith was very important to her, and her new home had daily Mass. She eventually moved into the full-time nursing home. She passed away in September of 2014 the day before my eighth wedding anniversary. I was blessed because she was at my wedding and still independent. She got to meet her great-granddaughter. She was also able to hold her first great-grandson. As I am writing this, she has ten great grandchildren, but most of these children she was not able to meet.
The day her three daughters took her to live at the assisted living facility, she wouldn’t get out of the car. Thinking about that breaks my heart. I am positive this was one of the hardest choices my aunts and uncles every had to make.
What if my grandma could have purchased long term care insurance? Or what if everyone could have afforded to let her stay in her home and have a caregiver?
My family opened a home care company because we want older adults to have care options that are affordable. We want seniors to have choices. We want the care they receive in their home to be excellent. We want to give peace of mind to those hardworking adult children who worry about their parents, or the parents of a disabled child to have respite care. Or a new Mom with multiple newborns to recover.
There are easier industries we could have chosen. There are easier paths than being caregivers. It is a calling and a privilege to have the trust of a family in taking care of a loved one who can’t take care of themselves.
We called our agency My Family for a reason. Because we treat all our clients like a member of our family.