Caregiver Story Spotlight | Shield HealthCare “What Makes Caregiving Rewarding?” Story Contest
Story by Kimberly W.
I have worked with the elderly for more than 20 years. Throughout my adult life I have always felt obligated to help the elderly in my community. After all, we are all going to get old someday. I enjoy helping older people utilize the resources in their communities to improve their quality of life. Many older people can benefit from the programs and services in their communities if they only knew about them. I like to tell seniors about them. My hope is that they utilize them to improve the quality of their life.
I believe it is the younger generation’s responsibility to make sure the seniors in their community are properly cared for. No one knows just how many older people are truly suffering because they do so in the privacy of their own homes. Our older generation deserves better. If every young person made a point of checking on the older people they know, this world would be a better place. Little things like hosing out a neighbors trash can or cutting their lawn because you were doing yours anyway is a good example.
I worked doing hospice after gaining so much experience while caring for my grandmother. The relationships I made with families was very rewarding. I was missed when I would be sent to a different clients home and I also missed my clients. A few years ago, one of my clients called me a “visiting angel.” I was flattered and I wrote a poem that expressed the way I felt. I was proud to add it to my journal of poetry. It still rings true today:
Visiting Angel
I am blessed and I am grateful
To have a job that doesn’t seem like work
Because of all the many perks
I know this job came from above
Because it is one I very much love
The only thing that makes me blue
Is that sometimes I really miss you
Some call me a visiting angel
And I wish I did have wings
So I could see you more often
And we could have time for things
So don’t think I have forgotten
Don’t think I do not care
Because my love for you
Will always be right here
I am needed somewhere else right now
So when you think of me, please say a prayer
And you will see I will come visit as soon as I am free
Shield HealthCare | Medical Supplies For Care at Home Since 1957
