KUDOS from Kelly

by Kelly McNamara

Maggie Boamah
Maggie has enjoyed a more than a few accolades in this column.  During her tenure with us, she has cared for only one lucky client, GZ.  Sharing her client’s lovely apartment in her assisted living facility and her days became the focus of Maggie’s life as well for nearly the past four years.

Daily life with a very elderly person can seem isolating to the outside on looker. But Maggie and GZs days were far from boring.  They discussed every topic seen on TV, every news story.  Maggie listened very very patiently to her elderly client’s stories, over and over and over again each time as if they were being heard for the last time.

They both enjoyed dining in the facility dining room and sharing events of the day with GZ’s friends.
Both Maggie and GZ had large and loving families; they shared family, stories, countless pictures, and enjoyed visits from both GZ’s extended family members and also from Maggie’s family.  Their lives were enmeshed in so many ways over the years they spent together.

An ever-vigilant caregiver and friend, Maggie was very quick to find any signs of decline and insure that her beloved client receive effective and early care.  In four years, while her client traveled from age 98 to 102, she did not have one fall, or any other setback.  All potential infections were discovered and treated early. 

Her only hospitalization was her final one which eventually led to her death at nearly 102 years of age, at home, in peace, with Maggie and her daughter Marilyn, at her side.

It seems fitting that we devote this entire column to Maggie.  Her care, her concern, her patience and competence paled in comparison to her love for the client for whom she cared  so gently to the very end.  After a break, we hope to find another special client in need of Maggie’s remarkable gifts.

From all of us, thank you Maggie, so very much!

All caregivers mentioned in this column will receive a gift card and our sincere appreciation!  Many many thanks to all of you for once again extending yourselves to ensure that we are of course Always There…!! ■