M.J., A Life of Service
M.J. Blash was in first grade when she and her parents would hop into the family car every Sunday after church and drive to a nursing home, where they would sing hymns to the residents. Her parents taught M.J. how to chat with the attention-starved residents, and M.J. would make the rounds and shake hands. Her father, who was not a pastor by profession, shared a faith-based devotion with the residents. The family’s mini church service brought cheer to the seniors.
Those Sundays made a lasting impression on the young girl from St. Petersburg, Florida. First, the spiritual nature of the trips was never lost on M.J., who later was a church choir director and Sunday school teacher. The apple “never fell far from the tree:” M.J.’s mother taught Sunday school classes for 50 years. Her father worked with the church’s boys program, also for 50 years. The social interaction and compassionate interest in helping others also led M.J. to a Master of Arts degree in elementary education and a 21-year teaching career.
M.J. was the source of many other acts of kindness in her native Florida, which continued for the past 17 years in Mount Airy after she moved to North Carolina. Among other things, she worked with the homeless and served as a substitute teacher and teacher’s aide. On Aug. 23, 2017, M.J. joined Home Instead® of Mount Airy. “When I applied at Home Instead,” M.J. recalled, “there were two agencies in Mount Airy that provided professional senior care. I looked online, researched Home Instead and went there. The interview with Staff Coordinator Sharon Bledsoe clinched it.”
Sharon asked M.J., “What qualifies you to do this job?”
For one, M.J.’s mother, who had dementia, had lived with M.J. for 17 years before her death in 2005. M.J, had gained practical knowledge and insight into dementia behaviors while taking care of her mother. “Mom was a strong-willed Italian. I was her miracle baby, born to her and my father when Mom was 44. So, of course, we were close, but the dementia eventually robbed her of her ability to communicate, to express what was wrong if she didn’t feel well. As a result, I had to use my observation of her at all times,” said M.J., who was 27 when her father passed away in 1985.
“My parents were great role models. When they took me to visit people, those people almost always were older. I was comfortable around the elderly. When I first came to Mount Airy, I had no church or job, but I had a hymnal. I walked into a nursing home. I sang for residents who couldn’t go to Bingo. One previously unresponsive resident sang ‘Amazing Grace’ with me. A CNA, who knew the resident well, dropped her jaw after seeing the resident come out of her shell and sing. Music is a wonderful gift from God, and it can bless those with dementia.”
It’s easy to see why M.J. has been a hit as a Home Instead Care Professional. Her empathetic heart, combined with her love for seniors and a strong, active spiritual faith, are easy to see. Sharon, while announcing M.J.’s honor as the franchise’s February Care Pro of the Month, said: “M.J. is very dedicated to meeting all of her clients’ needs. She displays Home Instead’s guiding principles of ‘Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.’ ”
Through the years, M.J. has assisted six to seven Home Instead clients regularly. In fact, M.J. has been with one client, a 94-year-old woman, for the past 2½ years. Bonding and relationships are among the constants for M.J. and her clients. What are the secrets to her caregiving success? M.J. said: “I allow clients to do as much as they can by themselves if it is safe for them to do so. Nearly every client has the potential to do a few things for themselves. I give them the chance to do it. I come up with ideas to help keep them active.”
M.J. encourages one client to go outside with her and walk if the weather is good. “I get her out on the sidewalks and visit her neighbors. She lives in a complex of four apartments that are near each other in the same building,” M.J. said.
For a dementia client, M.J. found a country-music CD and played it. “She began tapping her foot to the music. I asked her, ‘Do you want to dance?’ I got her out of her chair, and we swayed together as she shuffled her feet. So, we were dancing to an Ann Murray song on the front porch,” M.J. recalled.
M.J. pointed out: “This is my ministry. This is what I want to do until God wants me to go somewhere else, and I believe God has a way of telling you when you need to make a change. I also thank God I always have had the Home Instead staff. They listen to my feelings and my stories. They are special.”
M.J. added: “Sometimes you need extra help in life. I need the Lord and can always turn to Him.
My favorite verses are Lamentations 3:22-23: ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ ”
