Before I entered the world of caregiving I worked as a house painter. My boss was a man who was succumbing to a horrible, debilitating disease — about which I was completely in the dark.
One day Anthony stepped up the ladder, brush in hand. No, he crawled up it, like a baby unsure of his steps. Anthony was a hard worker but, at age 78, a stubborn one.
One day as we prepared for a job, I failed to do a task properly. I think it was mixing the paint. Anthony yelled at me, as if I was a child. “Can’t you remember anything?” he bawled loudly.
I felt horrible. Here I was, at 27, a grown man and worthy of respect. My face reddened. I hoped that no one heard us. Why was he in such a bad mood?
This was not like Anthony. When I started the job, we got along well. I had lacked confidence in many ways. With his help, I gained self respect. But now he was becoming irritable, and I didn’t know why.
Fell Asleep Driving
Another time he fell asleep driving, due to his meds. I kept him awake for the drive, and found myself watching out for him more frequently. My boss’s cognitive abilities were slipping. I had unknowingly stepped into the role of caregiver.
Day after day I came back to paint. Eventually Anthony quit working. Shortly afterwards he passed. After the funeral, Anthony’s son, who worked with us at times, told me something startling: his dad had dementia.
Why hadn’t he mentioned this earlier? I had never even heard of the word. Maybe it was because the son feared that if I knew of his condition I would quit, and that was not good for his dad.
Demand for My Caregiving Experience
After that I helped a woman with dementia until she passed. Eventually, word must have gotten around that I was good with people with this problem. Then I worked for a caregiving agency. I took on private clients, and they grew so much in number that I quit my job and started KareBlazers Home Care. My workload grew to 16 hours a day, so I began to hire caregivers.
Looking back, I never suspected that my caregiving experience would lead to such a satisfying job.
Today, I make sure that our caregivers follow the same philosophy that guided me those first years: we must care for the wellbeing of others, despite their limitations. I train my workers well. When someone comes knocking at our door, they are hiring not one caregiver, but a whole culture of caregiving.
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