It is a great honor for the Home Instead Vista office to select a CAREGiver of the Year, and especially for 2020 we had so many CAREGivers step up to the plate in ways like never before. They worked during a pandemic and went above and beyond to care for and protect their clients. It is with great enthusiasm that we announce Tom as our 2020 CAREGiver of the Year!
If you were to meet Tom, you would understand why he rose to the top of our list. He always shows up with a smile on his face and is a fan of getting others to laugh. Afterall, laughter is the BEST medicine. Although aging is no laughing matter, it certainly can make the process a little easier when joy is interjected into day-to-day life.
When we asked Tom why he became a CAREGiver, he shares the story of his dad who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In 1998 his dad fell and broke his hip, and for a period during his recovery Tom traveled back and forth an hour plus from Escondido to Seal Beach to help his parents’ post-surgery. It was a stressful time as he was raising a young family, running a business, and trying to decide the next steps for his father. About a month later they placed his dad in a facility while they figured out the best long-term course of action. In just short five days, his father passed. Sadly, he did not receive proper care and it resulted in his early passing.
As Tom drove home after the funeral, he felt his dad did not deserve to die alone in a facility. He told himself that if ever the opportunity presents itself, he would love to help people in a similar situation. Fast forward 16 years and Tom retires from his business and starts to think about what to do next. That is when he recalls the experience with this dad and his desire to help others. Just a few days later he saw an ad for Home Instead, applied, and the rest is history!
Often time what makes for a great CAREGiver is their personal experience and a heart to help others facing similar circumstances with grace and dignity. Tom exemplifies that on every level. He understands the importance of living and honoring life, and that sometimes it is just about making someone comfortable in their own space. He also gets the value in little things like a home-cooked meal for a couple on a free-meal service or taking a walk on the beach with a client, playing golf with someone who has Alzheimer’s but remembers how to swing and putt. Or standing beside a wife grieving the loss of her husband as hospice takes him away. In his seven years he has seen it all, and if you ask him where he wants to be seven years from now, he will tell you, “Doing the same thing I am doing now, I truly enjoy it!!”
Tom will be the first to tell you that, “Getting old sucks!!!!!” It certainly does, but in his role with Home Instead he knows that he can bring sunshine to the doom and gloom of aging, “How badly people in need crave friendship, I know with me, my clients light up when I come and hate it when I have to leave. It’s a very special feeling to know that you’re making a difference in someone’s life!!”
We are so blessed to have Tom as part our Home Instead family, and we know that the many clients he has served the past seven years feel the exact same way.
Congratulations, Tom!!!
