My Lovely Senior Gentleman

I was so honoured to have met and worked with a Lovely Senior Gentleman in 2023. He was 91 years old and was managing…with help from  Family and my services for driving. I love to hear people’s stories and his went like this…

He was born and raised in London, England (1932) and became a Steam Engineer on large ships. Every year he would study and move up a level in his career by completing the tests and working on these ships as there had to be a certain amount of practical experience.

He soon left England as a young man of 23 to come to Canada. He landed on the East Coast…Toronto to be exact and started his career here again as a Steam Engineer. He met his wife at a dance…they fell in love…and moved to the coast of British Columbia where they had 2 sons.

They all moved to Prince Rupert, BC where he became the Captain of the Weather Ship the Alexander Mackenzie. And when the opportunity came they all moved back to West Vancouver as he took a position at the Port of Vancouver as the Chief Steam Inspector.

He was quite a gentleman who had grace and a charming personality. A lovely person to be around as he was polite to everyone…even the person holding the door for him and his walker. “Thank you pet”..”Thank you dear”. He was a thinker….a tinkerer…an inventor in his spare time.

He had some major complications with his health, and used the MAID services….(Medically Assisted in Dying), to leave this earth.

I have never met someone like him. He was a gem.

Here is the poem he wrote that I will cherish all my days.

PEOPLE

PEOPLE FROM A WORLD OF PLACES,

PEOPLE OF ALL DIFFERENT RACES,

WITH COMPLECTIONS OF EVERY HUE,

AND FEATURES THAT ARE DIFFERNT TOO,

BUT ALL IN ALL THIS AMOUNTS TO NOUGHT,

AS THE ESSENCE OF OUR BEING IS NOT OUR ASPECT BUT OUR THOUGHT,

WE ARE BUT WHAT WE NEED TO BE,

WHEN WEIGHED AND MEASURED PHYSICALLY,

EACH FEATURE IS A HARMONY TO MATCH AND OUTSIDE FORCE,

AND EACH WITHIN A PORTRAIT,

OF WHAT OUR LIFE HAS WROUGHT,

WE COME IN PEACE, LET US GO IN GRACE,

PEOPLE OF THE HUMAN RACE.

Blessings Everyone,

Nancy

 

Where Have I Been NOV-2024

What an amazing couple of years it has been. I have been very busy with my Services for Seniors and life in general.
Coming through the Covid Pandemic was seriously hard for EVERYONE. But especially for Seniors who could not stay connected to their families…in person because of Lockdowns and people getting sick. It was a Lonely Time for us all.

As we maneuver through the Flu Season…( September – March) we try to eat right, walk for exercise and sleep for our health. Nutrition is very important to overall health, as is being part of a community of family and friends. It lifts our spirit to have a conversation with a friend or family…a feeling of connectedness.

On our way to Christmas 2024, remember to take good care of yourself, and we will talk soon.

Tea with Grandma Weddings 2016

What an Awesome Opportunity I had this year to connect a Senior with her family for her Grandson’s Wedding.

Grandma was located in South Surrey and her Grandson was getting married at a winery in Ontario.

We were able to connect my Senior Client with her Grandson, and family for the Wedding Ceremony. My client was thrilled to see her Grandson and Family and actually BE THERE for the ceremony instead of watching it later.

Many people who were there took the opportunity to say HI before the ceremony started.

If you could have seen her face…..priceless

wedding-vid-connect700

Contact Nancy if you need to live-feed a video of you speaking or an event you want seen across the country or globe.  We set that up and broadcast it to make that happen.

All legal Covid-19 protocols are followed on visits, and only what customers are comfortable with.

 

Happy New Year 2017

I wish to send out this post regarding how grateful I am to have such Truly Amazing Clients and their Families. You become an extension of a family when you work closely with the Senior Client….but also their Children who are Caregivers to their Parents.

As we move into the new year I have, again, been taught so much by really listening to my Seniors…and maybe what they are not verbally saying. You become a bit of a Sherlock Holmes in softly extracting what they are trying to say, but don’t know how to express it. Listening is a great skill. Calmness and Flexibility is another.

As a Caregiver you have to be flexible. One case comes to mind when my client had a Doctors Appointment. When I arrived she was so nauseated from the 11 pills the Nursing Staff were giving her on an empty stomach every morning. (the medications have been adjusted, and she is given breakfast before any pills are dispensed), but we HAD TO get to the doctors.

My client who was still in her pajamas said that we should take the wastepaper basket with us in the car because of her stomach upset. EXECUTIVE DECISON….Cancel the appointment! Simple as that sounds, others would press to take her to her appointment. And maybe deal with a situation in the car when there is an accident….or in the Doctors Office. Relax…cancel the appointment…call her Daughter and let your client relax and make her some tea.

Learning to lead with a Compassionate Heart and honing those Listening Skills are my mottos.

Namaste, (The God/Goddess within me acknowledges the God/Goddess within you.)

Nancy

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Sharing Stories-2

My client who is 93 years old was telling me about her chickens. She had a small acreage in Whalley, in Surrey, BC. she had 1000 Chickens! Yes…a 1000.

She had to clean,(had a machine to do that), candle, (make sure there was a yolk and not a small chicken inside), and box these eggs. They were sold to a distributor and they graded the eggs and sold them to stores in the lower mainland.

She received a cheque in the mail for her eggs and got more money if her eggs were Grade A.

She told me she loved the spring as that is when she would receive her new chicks, as they were constantly replacing old laying hens. Of course the order of new chicks always seemed to coincide with Spring and Easter.

All of this, raising a family of 5 Girls, keeping a vegetable garden, a house, a husband, going to lodge and being a good neighbour.

Wow! Amazing history of the Surrey area when it was more agriculture then residential.

What a Woman! She is still very independent and strong. We play tile rummy and she still beats me! I love our Tuesdays together.

Sharing Stories-1

What a WONDERFUL DAY working with 3 clients yesterday! Three lovely ladies had their nails and feet cared for while we visited and talked. One of my clients, 83 years old, who lived in England near the Wales border, told me about how she had her 3 children at home! Her second child was born 18 months after her first child. The midwife got her settled for the night stating that “this child will not be born until morning” and set off into the night on her bicycle. My client got the incredible urge to push, told her husband to go and get the midwife…so off he set on his bicycle. The urge was overwhelming and my client pushed and there came her new son. She quickly cleaned him off and got him breathing, and held him till the midwife returned. Amazing, strength and courage!

She also used to work in the pub across the street. she looked after her children during the day, and when her husband came home, he looked after the children when she went to work at the pub. Great stories from her nights there.

Such teamwork! Such love of family! Heartfelt stories shared with love.

Namaste

Heavy Hearts a Tribute to our Dear Mother

Our Dearest Mother Dorothy Shawyer:

Dorothy Mary Shawyer lost her 4-year battle with melanoma on December 13, 2014.

She was born in Vancouver General Hospital November 28, 1926, the first child of Robert and Jenny Higgs. Her younger brother, Doug Higgs, passed away in 2010.

After high school, Dorothy graduated from Pitman Secretarial School and began working at the Employment Office.

Pam, her friend from work, set her up on a blind date with Ed Shawyer. They married in September of 1951 and were together until Ed passed away in January 2009.

Daughters Deborah Ann and Nancy Lee were born between 1953-1954 and the family moved to the little house at the corner of 17th and Rupert Street, where Dorothy remained until 2010 when she moved to a nearby independent living residence. There, she passed the time chatting with new friends, enjoying the meals served in the dining room and having no worries about cooking and cleaning, snow on the stairs, or whether there would be a bus strike.

Dorothy spent the 1950’s and 60’s raising Debbie and Nancy, teaching them to cook and making sure they did their homework. In 1970, she went to work at Eaton’s Warehouse at Renfrew and Broadway. Every year she and Ed attended the staff Christmas shopping night at the downtown Eaton’s store and one year Dorothy was fortunate to win the big draw — a trip to Hawaii. And that began her love of the Hawaiian Islands where she and Ed travelled many times, taking a break now and then to visit Vegas and Reno.

Dorothy was a loving mother; a kind, generous and accepting woman; and a stoic and strong person. Although quite shy, her sweet and simple demeanor along with her contagious smile encouraged people to approach her.

She will be missed by all who knew her, but especially her two girls.

~ We hold you in our hearts, warm and safe now Mom. You were the BEST Mom who taught us how to be strong women. We love you Sweetheart ~ Debbie and Nancy.

There will be no services but we ask that friends and family, who are moved to do so, consider sending a donation In Memory of Dorothy Shawyer to the BC Cancer Foundation.

The doctors and staff at the BC Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Centre did everything they could to help Mom fight the melanoma and hospice staff at Peace Arch Hospital took care of her in her last days with compassion and empathy for both Dorothy and her daughters.

online at http://bccancerfoundation.com/ways-donate/gift-memory
by phone at 604.877.6040 or toll free 1.888.906.2873
or by mail: cheque made payable to: BC Cancer Foundation.
BC Cancer Foundation; #150 – 686 West Broadway; Vancouver, BC V5Z 1G1

My Amazing Mother

We have added some new photos to the website chronicaling my Dear Mother’s recent struggle with a re-occuring Melanoma on her leg. In my supporting her with this part of her journey I acknowledged a bunch of different areas where I could be of service to others. Using the Patient Transfer Service, (about $75.00 return trip), to get to Doctors appointments, because of Mom being in a wheelchair. I went as and Attendant to make sure all the correct information was collected and written down in our “Doctor Book“, provide a packed lunch, (Egg Salad Sandwich on Brown Bread, Sliced Apple and Water), and generally “be there” so my Mother did not feel all alone and scared.

There are many custom ways in which my services can be of help to clients going through health concerns and to support the family on a  whole to stay informed of what Doctors say and help their loved ones feel that someone is there with their best intentions in mind.

Sending Love from my Family to Yours,
Nancy Bussey / Owner

Manicure and Foot Soak

One of my new services that has come about because of my clients suggestions and need is a Therapeutic Manicure and Foot Soak. I have put together a kit to take to clients homes and provide this service regularly/weekly. Most people have a large rocker chair that they sit in, the kind my father liked, some are recliners and some are not. I have adapted my service so my client can sit in comfort while I provide the soothing foot soak: basin filled with warm water with added Epsom Salts or Foaming Aromatic Foot Soap. While the feet are soaking I cover the arms of the chairs with towels and start on the manicure. The manicure includes: removal of old polish, finger soak / clean / and trim,  with two coats of polish and lotion application on the hands and lower arms. Back to the foot soak now….the feet are dried and calouses worked by hand and lotion applied to feet and legs to the knees. My clients thouroughly enjoy this weekly pampering. This is one of the ways I have been able to customize my in-home services to seniors.

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2013

What intensions have you set for 2013? Was one of them to visit your aging parents more? Well as nice as that is….maybe you just do not have the time to visit aging parents. You have your work, home, family, pets, church and community service that is taking up your time. This is where I can help. If you are using up time away from work? using up vacation time? or your family has demands for soccer games, school outings, work pressures??? Call me and see how I can help your family unit thrive as you struggle to help elderly parents. Just call or e-mail me….Consultations are FREE! HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR!