The Beginning- Part 1

I won’t forget it. I won’t forget the days, months, and years of sleepless night after sleepless night I experienced during covid. I would lie in bed at night hoping everything was going to be ok. I was praying our assisted living wouldn’t end up on the front page of a newspaper. I was praying each day we would have staff to care for our residents. If I did fall asleep, it was more than likely after crying my way there.

I was concerned for our residents who weren’t thriving because they were isolated in their rooms. I was hurt because of the people who I once had such wonderful relationships with now were blaming me for the pain they were feeling. I was angry because of the number of state surveyors who entered our building because of lies from people who were once our friends. I was devastated at the number of people who distanced themselves from us as though we were the problem.

The people, the pain, the pressure. The lies and rumors were unbearable. It was all more than I could manage. I hated that I was needed in our building while my daughter sat at home all by herself for hours. When I finally came home, I would take all my clothes off and wash them before entering the rest of the house. Our exercise room at work was converted into a PPE room. When everyone else opened up and life became “normal” for the rest of the world, healthcare was still struggling. It was as if we were forgotten.

On top of the stress of covid, my dad died months before and my father-in-law died in the midst. We were trying to manage grief… the heartache kind, while dealing with the pressures we were under. It took me years to be able to say we had 17 beds open. It is absolutely only by the grace of God our business survived.

That’s the beginning of my story.