Diane

“I am writing you regarding your caregiver who helped care for my father during the final months of his life. I want to make sure that you know how wonderful a caretaker your employee is.

My father, in his prime, was a dedicated doctor who worked an average of 12 hours a day taking care of his patients. When he retired, he spent years volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, helping to design homes of people with disabilities. He volunteered to mentor former inmates to help them re-establish themselves in society. But Alzheimer’s disease reduced my intelligent, powerful, generous father to a helpless old man, and towards the end he was in and out of hospitals as we tried to stabilize his outbursts of rage. Instead of being the caretaker, he became the one in need.

We hired your caregiver without knowing how marvelous he was going to be. Even after five weeks of hospitalization trying to calm my father, he continued to react with rage when he needed to be changed by staff. But he trusted your caregiver, and liked him. Your caregiver made sure that no staff members had to risk being hurt, and somehow, miraculously, he helped my father feel safe and cared for. Every time I visited, your caregiver was sitting next to my Dad, keeping him company, talking to him, or feeding him. He was astonishingly protective. And since my father loved to be outside, your caregiver had him out there every day. Working twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week, your caregiver guaranteed that the final stage of my father’s life was as good as humanly possible. It was a huge relief for me, as I live too far to visit frequently. It gave our entire family peace of mind.

…I have never seen dedication like this. My father was blessed to have this man in his life.

–Diane (her father lived in Avon)