The Caregiver Queen of Bling on Payday

AAADD – KNOW THE SYMPTOMS…..!

Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder.

Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests itself:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I head towards the garage, I notice post on the porch table that I picked up from the postman earlier.

I decide to go through it before I wash the car.

I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the recycling box under the table, and notice that the recycling box is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycling first.

But then I think, since I’m going to be near the postbox when I take out the recycling paper anyway, I may as well pay the bills first..

I take my cheque book off the table and notice that there is only one cheque left.

My extra cheques are in the desk in my study, so I go into the house to my desk where I find the cup of coffee I’d been drinking.

I’m going to look for my cheques but first I need to push the coffee aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.

The coffee is getting cold, and I decide to make another cup..

As I head toward the kitchen with the cold coffee, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye – the flowers need water.

I put the coffee on the worktop and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers..

I put the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV,I’ll be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I put the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn’t washed

The bills aren’t paid

There is a cold cup of coffee sitting on the kitchen work-surface

The flowers don’t have enough water,

There is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,

I can’t find the remote,

I can’t find my glasses,

And I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all bloody day and I’m really tired.

I realise this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail…..

Do me a favour. Forward this message to everyone you know, Because I can’t remember who the hell I’ve sent it to.

Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!!

Transcript:
I am calling to thank all of you all of you for the wonderful work you have done for Judy. I just called Sherry again he said Elmer is our angel and that he knows exactly what do to. He stays reserved and stays in the background and says what he needs to. They love him and are getting very attached to him. Thank you for saving this family. I just am always amazed at what a good situation you can put together and how well you can take care of it. Thank you so much good bye.

AAADD – KNOW THE SYMPTOMS…..!

Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder.

Somehow I feel better, even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. – Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests itself:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I head towards the garage, I notice post on the porch table that I picked up from the postman earlier.

I decide to go through it before I wash the car.

I put my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the recycling box under the table, and notice that the recycling box is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycling first.

But then I think, since I’m going to be near the postbox when I take out the recycling paper anyway, I may as well pay the bills first..

I take my cheque book off the table and notice that there is only one cheque left.

My extra cheques are in the desk in my study, so I go into the house to my desk where I find the cup of coffee I’d been drinking.

I’m going to look for my cheques but first I need to push the coffee aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.

The coffee is getting cold, and I decide to make another cup..

As I head toward the kitchen with the cold coffee, a vase of flowers on the worktop catches my eye – the flowers need water.

I put the coffee on the worktop and discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers..

I put the glasses back down on the worktop, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote control. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV,I’ll be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I put the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn’t washed

The bills aren’t paid

There is a cold cup of coffee sitting on the kitchen work-surface

The flowers don’t have enough water,

There is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,

I can’t find the remote,

I can’t find my glasses,

And I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all bloody day and I’m really tired.

I realise this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail…..

Do me a favour. Forward this message to everyone you know, Because I can’t remember who the hell I’ve sent it to.

Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!!

Letter From Client:

Dear At Home Caregivers:
This letter is a sincere token of my gratitude for the quality of care Elmer Vecina provided my wife in the final days of her life. Mr. Vecina provided diligent care and gave my wife reassurance that she was in good, capable, experienced hands. Elmer’s experience with people with fragile bones gave us peace of mind; but he also provided our hearts with a strong, caring, and compassionate friend. Because of his competency, I was able to sleep at night, and care better for my wife during the day.

Regrettably, your company wasn’t the first caregiver company we employed, but it was fortunately our last. We found ourselves not needing or wanting anything else in a caregiver’s experience. Hiring your company was the last thing that I did form my wife while she was alive. I’m glad I got it right.

Sincerely Yours,
Gerald L.

Peter Rubens, Proprietor |         At Home Caregivers

I love what I do – helping people live their lives At Home in peace, dignity and privacy.  What I really do is help families who are experiencing some sort of health/medical crisis solve the problems associated with caring for their mother/father/loved ones quickly and efficiently, with as much safety, oversight and protection as can possibly be provided to my clients and their families.

How the heck did I get into this crazy business?  My journey into Home Care began on a bench in Central Park on 9/11/01 – the “9/11”. I had opened a national wine marketing company and was in New York on a two week eastern swing for the fall/holiday selling season. While breakfasting with one of my winery owners we watched the TV in horror and heard the sirens wail as the awful events unfolded that day.  After witnessing the exodus of hordes of New Yorkers across the Queensborough Bridge, many of them completely dusted over from the collapse of the towers, I traveled as far south as Belleview hospital where there was no activity whatsoever – no one in the ER, no survivors. I wound up in Central Park wondering what impact this hell would have on the rest of my life.  For the immediate future the answer was simple, “live as normal a life as possible or the terrorists win”.  But I felt that I needed to change.  I was burned out schlepping wine for egomaniacal winery owners – spending more than 20 weeks a year on the road and in airplanes.  Given the fact that there were no planes flying, and no one knew when they would resume, I knew life on the road was not going to get any easier.  The economy in 2000 was already dimming, and 9/11 was like the light switch that turned off the few bright stars left in the fine wine world. At the same time, I was approaching the proverbial mid-life crisis; I had turned 40, was in the process of getting divorced, and was asking the question, “what do I want to do in the second half of my life?”

It took three years of work, burnout, uncertainty and a clinical depression to answer the question; “how can I be of service?”  The key to working through this period lay in a deeply held desire that the most important validation in life was embedded in the concept of ‘service to others’.  I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could be of service to others and respect my needs and wants.  I looked at a number of small businesses that would enable me to travel only when I wanted to, remain close to home and my children, and reclaim a sense that my life was more in tune with my values.  Interestingly, making lots of money is not nearly as important in my value system as being of service to others. In 2004 there was a lot of talk about the “Silver Tsunami”, the tidal wave of aging boomers in the USA.  I took the plunge and opened a Home Care Agency in Marin County, California in December, 2004 and served my first client, Eugene S., in April of 2005.  I drove him to his doctor appointments when his loving daughter-in-law who worked full-time and lived more than 35 miles away couldn’t.

In the years since I have had the privilege and opportunity to serve many hundreds of clients and their families.  All of these cases were as unique and different as the individuals I served.  As time allows, I intend to share their stories in this blog and elsewhere. What I didn’t know then and do now is that I am also the employer of record to a fair number of the USA’s 21^st century immigrant population.  My caregivers are here for the same reasons our forbears came; a better, safer life for themselves and their families. I intend to share their stories as well. I believe it is very important that everyone understands that you are not alone, that every family is really more alike than not, that we all have or will go through the aging and dying process as I have with so many of my clients, caregivers and their families.

On May 1, 2011 my company’s name officially changed to At Home Caregivers.  That my journey to serving seniors, the disabled and those recovering or convalescing began on 9/11/01, and my new company’s start began the very same day Osama Bin Laden was killed reinforces my belief that there are no coincidences – only clues the world provides.  I could not be happier or more grateful to have the opportunity to serve my community while following my heart – to be where I am today – making a positive and loving impact on people’s lives each day by helping others to stay safely and healthily AT HOME, wherever that may be.