CAREGiver of the Month Jackie Gonzalez’s client was laboring to take her last breaths, and Jackie was holding her hand while trying to provide comfort. “I prayed and prayed with her, and I quietly told her, ‘It’s OK to go. Jesus is waiting for you at the end of the gate,’ ” Jackie somberly recalled with a sigh. Not even a moment or two after Jackie had spoken, the client was gone.
“She had fought so hard. It was so sad to see her go, but I believe it was her time. I have a soft heart, and I cried because I knew I would miss her. Losing a client to death is the hard part of the job. I care for my seniors as if they were my mom or dad.”
The emotional day occurred less than two months after Jackie had joined Home Instead® of Victoria, an award-winning franchise owned by Dillon Rice and Pietro Jordao. The situation strongly pointed to Jackie’s ability to bond with a client so closely and compassionately in a short time. Speaking in spiritual terms, Jackie was not surprised to be with the client on her final day. To others, it appeared Jackie had provided a measure of peace that surpassed all understanding.
Jackie takes a humble, God-fearing approach to life. “I’ve been through my own trials and tribulations. In that way, I guess I’d say I’m not really someone who has lived a charmed life, but I am faith-filled. I hang onto God in the good times and in the bad times. That’s all you can do, because you know it will come out OK in the end,” Jackie said.
The Home Instead staff immediately noticed a specialness about Jackie after she came aboard.
Recruiting and Retention Coordinator Maegan Coldewey said: “Jackie and our two other most recent CAREGivers of the Month are new to us at Home Instead. But they left the gate in a sprint, ready for their challenges, eager to work and unafraid of hard work. All three of these ladies already have taken on many hours in very demanding situations and have excelled beyond my expectations. We are blessed to have them all on our team.”
When did Jackie start to become a blessing to seniors? As closely as she could remember, she was 12 or 13 years old when she began to visit her grandmother’s home often. Whether she was asked to do it, or whether she volunteered, Jackie could not recall. “I dusted and cleaned and helped her in any way I could. It’s not that Grandma couldn’t do those things by herself. She just wanted me to be there. I was her first granddaughter, and that was a very big thing to her,” said Jackie, describing one of her first experiences of showing her compassion.
Jackie also remembered shedding tears for her grandmother even though she made Jackie promise not to cry “when her time came.” Jackie was living in Texas when her grandmother, in her 80s, died in New Hampshire. “She had undergone heart surgery and seemed to be doing OK, but one day, she laid down and never woke up. Despite what she had said, my tears flowed when I heard what had happened. She was ready to be with my grandfather, who already had died,” Jackie said.
Jackie has been in professional caregiving for 14 years and was a CNA. Fourteen years ago, she worked in a nursing home in Port Arthur, Texas. While working at in-home care, Jackie spent a little more than a year at Home Instead in Beaumont, Texas. “I had been in Tennessee for a year and a half and found Home Instead of Victoria on Indeed.com when I moved here,” Jackie said.
Jackie is working 12-hour shifts with a 24-7 client who is 96 and has a mercurial manner, perhaps because of dementia. “She often says she doesn’t want any help with personal care, and you can’t force her. But she does well with showering. We assist with bathing, dressing and personal care. She can be a challenge. At the end of the day, she says, ‘I am so glad you’re here,’ even after she has put you through the paces.”
All in all, Jackie loves her job. “Home Instead is a most awesome company. Pietro, Dillon and Maegan, everyone there is great. I’ve worked with very good CAREGivers, including Shirley Turner (also a recent hire and a CAREGiver of the Month). She really is a good one.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (361) 433-0330 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
