In One Short Day, Mickal’s Compassion Made a Huge Impression on Client’s Family
Sometimes family members need a Home Instead® CAREGiver more urgently than their senior loved ones. Such was the case one day about a year ago when CAREGiver of the Month Mickal Gardner served for the first time with a hospice client who passed away at the end of Mickal’s shift. Following that day, the client’s family members made a point of telling the staff at Home Instead of Clawson they’d never forget Mickal’s kindness, compassion and empathy.
In her truly humble fashion, the unassuming and unsung hero couldn’t think of anything particularly special she had done that day. Mickal’s delicate and measured actions – or appropriate periods of silence – spoke volumes to the family members. Mickal treats people in the caring, tenderhearted way she knows.
“I knew the client was not expected to live long. I believe the family might have been taken by surprise somewhat by the death because they may have expected to have at least another day or two with their loved one, but it just wasn’t to be. Death, when it does come, always seems sudden and so final. The client was not vocal during the entire time I was there. The focus is to make sure the client is comfortable and do whatever is needed to also make family members as comfortable as possible,” Mickal said.
Mickal drew a parallel between her job as a senior-care professional and serving as a family caregiver. One example is fresh in her mind: “I used to help my 86-year-old grandmother, who passed away in January 2021. I helped Grandma until her death. She lived in her own home. I took meals to her and helped her for a while in other ways. She took care of me, so we were close. You want to treat clients as if they were family,” Mickal said.
Mickal joined Home Instead in September 2016. Recalling her first connection to the franchise owned by Bert and Stephanie Copple, Mickal said: “My mother’s hair dresser had a client who worked as a Home Instead CAREGiver, and that’s how I heard about the company. I genuinely like Home Instead. It’s a nice company, and I enjoy the clients. The availability and flexibility are good for the hours I want to work.”
Mickal has two regular clients, including an 85-year-old woman for whom she has assisted for only a couple of weeks. “We are still getting acquainted, and she has grown to like me. Dementia is a hit-and-miss circumstance, but she most definitely is sundowning (a condition that causes late day confusion), and the later in the afternoon it is, the worse it gets. You just have to be aware of it. She will ask questions. She likes to read newspapers, magazines and public television. She and I go grocery shopping; she uses a cane. I help with medication reminders,” Mickal explained.
Meanwhile, Mickal has been assisting a 97-year-old man for a little over a year. “Things go pretty well with him. He is really nice and has an easygoing personality. He uses a walker. We do physical therapy that mostly involves his legs. He walks in the driveway. I have taken him to doctors’ appointments. He orders groceries online and has them delivered,” Mickal said.
Mickal is among more than 100,000 CAREGivers worldwide, and she has helped add to those numbers because of her strong belief in Home Instead’s purpose. It isn’t hard to see Mickal lives the Home Instead principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
For Mickal and her fellow CAREGivers, touching lives impacts their souls, whether they are providing physical help such as light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders or personal care or if they are offering emotional support in a companionship role. “This is what I like to do. I see myself sticking with Home Instead,” Mickal said.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (248) 203-2273 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
