Client Felt Strong Spiritual Tie to Mary
CAREGiver of the Month Mary Ramirez, her late 104-year-old client and a Home Instead® administrator believe in “divine appointments.”
“Mary started with Home Instead in 2017. She left because of family considerations, and God sent her back our way in 2019, when a 104-year-old client in Odessa needed their paths to collide again,” recalled Imelda Hawkins, the assistant administrator and recruitment and engagement coordinator for Home Instead of Midland-Odessa. Mary served her late client for about 18 months before she passed away earlier this year.
Imelda added: “After struggling at first to get a permanent CAREGiver for this client and then assigning Mary to her when Mary returned to Home Instead, the client often let us know God had sent Mary to her. Mary and the client were together until God called the client home.”
How did Mary view her client’s comments? “I believe them. We talked about spiritual matters all the time. We discussed what’s beyond this life as we know it. We talked about our beliefs in God and Jesus Christ. Her son took her to church on Sundays in his huge Dodge Ram truck. He had a little stool for her to climb up into the truck. She was determined to get to church.”
Mary obviously made quite a first impression on the client, but Mary’s a bit foggy on the details. “I must have won the client over during a fill-in shift during my first tenure with Home Instead. I thought, ‘Wow – she remembered me.’ I am both humbled and flattered,” Mary said.
“During my last year and a half with her, I can say she was the greatest. She touched my heart, and I got really attached to her. She made me a part of her family. I sat in the front row at her funeral at the family’s request. It turned out that’s what she wanted. The family acknowledged me at the funeral. Of course, I was crying because it was an emotional day.”
Adding details to the richness of their CAREGiver-client bonds, Mary said:
- “On our very first day of my second Home Instead tenure, she asked, ‘Do you know how to play cards?’ I did not, but she showed me how to play solitaire. Every day until two days before she died, we played cards.”
- “She didn’t need meds and had a sharp mind. She wrote the checks for her bills. She stayed on schedule with bill-paying and had her son check her work.”
- “She said the way I made breakfast for her was ‘perfect.’ It was an omelet in the certain way she wanted. Her coffee and toast had to be just the right temperature.”
- “She used her walker until her last day, but she told me during her final week she was not feeling well. She found a book in her home that I liked, and she said, ‘Here, take this book as a gift from me. It’s almost time for me to go. I want you to have it.’ ”
- “On an early Monday morning – when I was off – the CAREGiver called at 3 or 4 a.m. and said the client had just died. The client had said good night, went to sleep and never woke up. Her son later called and said his mother’s wish was for him to contact me.”
Mary’s second Home Instead tenure has been marked by a contrast of experiences, and Mary said she is glad she’s back with the award-winning franchise that is owned by Lorena and William Shensky. So is the Home Instead staff. Imelda said: “Mary is very valuable, reliable and consistent, and she likes to take on all client challenges. Recently, a client who had suspended services because of the pandemic, came back. She asked if Mary still worked with us and was delighted she was. Mary is certainly one of a kind.”
Mary explained: “I was hired in 2017 and stopped in 2018. A family member said she didn’t want me going far for shifts, so I ended up leaving Home Instead. Then that family member moved to El Paso, so I went back to Home Instead because I had time on my hands. I wanted to work at least part time, and things have expanded,” said Mary, who accepted a regular assignment for the past year and a half with an 84-year-old client who has proved to be challenging for other CAREGivers.
“She is demanding, so much so that it’s hard to find someone else to assist her. It was hard for me at the beginning, but the client knows I will make her happy. When she needs to go to a medical appointment, she makes sure I’m the one who takes her. In general with Home Instead, I want to keep going. What gives me courage is when I see my clients.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (432) 689-4663 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
