Companion Care New Mexico

The Legacy of Education in a Family

companioncare — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:50:04 +0000

Last week my Dad and his two daughters embarked on journey back to a little town nestled in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. It is a place that is rich in our family’s history. A place that generations before us, was even named for my family. Seventy years ago it would have been scene remenicient of an episode “The Walton’s”. My Grandfather was the school principal, Grandmother was the Postmaster and the Great Grand Parents ran the local mercantile. Little boys swam at the local fishing hole and carried their little brothers around on the handle bars of their bicycles.

The first week in May is a very special time for the grandfathers, fathers and sons of this town for it is Alumni weekend at the local school. My grandfather was the first child to attend all eleven grades at this school, and each of his sons graduated from this school. Back in the day this was the only school, but today it is very exclusive boys school. The night before we left as we were packing for this trip we dug to the bottom of the garment bag in my Dad’s closet to retrieve Grandfather’s baseball cap emblazened with the title ”Warrior’s Club” to take with us. This year is Dad’s 65th reunion year, the little brother he used to carry around on his handle bars drove down to meet us for the weekend. Dad turned 83 last week and this trip is a birthday present from his brother. This school is a very special place, the oldest Alumni to return this year was 90 years old. We listened to him speak how this school has brought him closer to his great grandsons who are now attending this school.

Little has changed in the everyday living at this school in it’s 100 year history. Despite the fact that the family’s spend a great deal to send their sons here. The campus is maintained by the boys who attend this school, there is no staff to clean up and pamper them. The original discipline is still in place, if you step out of line you will find yourself somewhere on campus digging up tree stumps. As we pulled into the parking lot there was a massive tree stump under excavation, and looked like this kid had a long way to go.

These are the stories that need to be preserved and passed down. Start documenting your family’s Legacy today. Download a FREE copy of Companion Care’s Celebrating Life’s Journey Workbook.

When you need a hand, We’ll be there! www.companioncarenm.com

The importance of connecting with the Past

companioncare — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:00:39 +0000

I am continuing my journey to document my family’s legacy. I am determined to document the lives and interests of the grandparents and great grandparents that are no longer with us, so that future generations will have a sense of who they were. In an earlier post, I told you of my maternal grandfather who was a traveling salesman. He spent most of his time on the road in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana peddling fine brass bathroom fixtures and really expensive Italian porcelain sinks. His pride and joy was his Lincoln Town Car, it had all the bells and whistles of the day. As he aged and no longer was on the road, he hung on to that car. He used to spend hours pulling parts from the engine, cleaning them, spray painting them blue and then reinstalling them. Before long he had this shiny new engine in this massive relic of a car. I remember that the family thought he was nuts spending all this time and money restoring the engine in his pride and joy. We were all sure that someday it had been taken apart so much that it would never run again. In retrospect, I think that I now understand this behavior, it was his way of connecting to the past and holding on to his life on the road. I think that it is very important for us to keep connected to what once was, so that we have a sense that our lives had purpose and will be remembered. -Claire

Here at Companion Care we are very interested in preserving the past for the future, and we have created a downloadable workbook to help you and your loved ones do the same. Visit our Facebook Page for a FREE copy of our Celebrating Life’s Journey Workbook.

Companion Care New Mexico www.companioncarenm.com

Do you know the specifics of Mom & Dad’s pension plan?

companioncare — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:10:14 +0000

We all know that financial planning for the retirement years is important. Most of our parents were fortunate enough to have worked in an era where the pension was alive and well. As the children of aging parents we know that it is important to be well informed on the financial health of Mom and Dad. I thought I was well informed, but this week Dad’s pension from Lockheed Martin came back to bite us. When Mom passed almost 10 years ago, we all had our wills updated, and made sure that Dad had a healthcare directive and power of attorney in place. However, we did not think to inform Lockheed Martin’s retirement services of my mother’s passing. After all she was the spouse. Well, fast forward to last Monday morning when UPS knock on the door with an overnight letter from the retirement service center. They were informing us that during a routine audit of Social Security Numbers they had just discovered, 10 years later, that Mom was no longer with us. When Dad was forced into early retirement due to cutbacks, had checked the option that would afford Mom the most income should he pass first. Unfortunately, this clause also reduced his income in the event that she passed first. Dad did not remember this, and his three grown children would have never have imagined this was the way it would work. So with only three days notice, Dad is now receiving one-third less, and they are taking out payments for the overpayment of the last 10 years of approx. 27K. Ouch!!! These payments go through the year 2036, and Dad will celebrate his 83rd birthday next month. My Dad was one of the main engineers for the Space Shuttle program, he holds the patents for the nose cone and leading edge of the Space Shuttle. He sent men into space without the use of a computer, only a slide rule. He will now receive less than $500 per month from his pension. He is surrounded by three loving children, so he will be alright. -Claire

Download Companion Care’s Celebrating Life’s Journey Workbook.

www.companioncarenm.com

How do you choose a reliable caregiver?

companioncare — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:19:12 +0000

The decision to hire a caregiver for a loved one can be difficult. Where do you look to make sure that you find a caregiver who you can trust to provide reliable care. What questions should you ask of a prospective home care provider? The National Private Duty Association suggest the following questions:

How do you recruit your caregivers?
Should a scheduling conflict occur, are there trained back-up caregivers?
Are the caregivers bonded and insured?
Are the caregivers employees of the provider and who handles the payroll and other taxes for the caregiver?
What types of background checks and screenings do you do?

Companion Care New Mexico is a proud member of the National Private Duty Association. As a member of the NPDA, Companion care carefully screens and selects all of our caregivers prior to an assignment. Our Caregivers are employees, not independent contractors. Companion Care adheres to state and federal guidelines in employment practices, such as withholding required taxes, providing workers’ compensation, conducting background and reference checks. Our Care Managers develop an individual plan of care with the input of the client and the family. As a member of the NPDA, Companion Care has 24/7 on call availability, and our care managers monitor the caregiver services, and make regular visits to the client home. Our families never have to worry about payroll or employee related matters. At Companion Care you are giving your loved one the very best in holistic non-medical in home care. www.companioncarenm.com

Visits Companion Care on Facebook, and receive our FREE Celebrating Life’ Journey Workbook. www.facebook.com/companioncare

Great GrandDad’s Legacy is “Work Ethic”

companioncare — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:30:14 +0000

I am continuing my journey through the family photos, as I promised in my last post, and came across a real jewel. My Great GrandDad in a Vintage Advertisement where he worked. I never knew my Great GrandDad Buehler, he passed away a few months after I was born. However, I vividly remember the stories of his unwavering “work ethic”. Charles Gustave Buehler was born in Shafter, Texas in 1882, he spoke fluent Spanish and played a mean violin. He was employed by the Albert Mathias Company in El Paso, Texas as shipping manager his entire working life. I remember stories of him getting all the way home and thinking maybe a window at the warehouse was left open and getting back on the trolley to go all the way back down to work to make sure it was locked up tight. So now we know where my mother’s side of the family gets their OCD for locking doors and turning off lights. The most amazing thing about GrandDad was he worked for Albert Mathias for 40 years before he ever took a vacation. That is where my Great GrandMother Ba-ba enters this story. One day she got all dressed up and took the trolley down to the Albert Mathias’ warehouse and told the manger that it was time that GrandDad had a vacation, and they agreed. It is hard to imagine today someone working that many years without a vacation, but I guess it was normal back then. The cherry on top of this story is the picture below. My Great GrandDad on his vacation in the backyard, on the back of the photo in my Baba’s handwriting is “What a Vacation” July 1946. Vacation attire has also change a bit since then, as well.

- Claire http://www.companioncarenm.com

The importance of preserving the past…

companioncare — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:17:08 +0000

I am sitting here today with a daunting task before me. Years of neglect of the family photos and stories has driven me to do something about it, before it is too late. I currently have over a 100 years of family photo’s, scrapbooks, news clippings and the like, sitting in a pile in my guest room. It has been in that pile for the last few years, and every year around Christmas, I say to myself. I wished I had organized it, digitized it and documented it to pass on to the family. In the last fifteen years, we have lost first my grandfather, then my mother, and two years later her mother. Leaving me at age 52, being the oldest female left in my family. It is January 10, 2012 and I am putting it out to the world, that this will be the year. I have posted a picture of my Grandfather with this post, because of all the things I remember as a child and into my teenage years the most, was the stories he would tell during the Sunday night family dinners. Every family has a “storyteller”, and Paw-Paw was a storyteller extraordinaire. He was a traveling salesman, so it is fitting that I have a picture of him working on orders in his hotel room on the road. My regret is that I wish someone would have recorded all those stories. I remember bits and pieces, and I am hoping going through the pictures will bring some of it back to life. I am determined that from this point on these things will be preserved for those that come after me. My 83 year old father lives with me, and we are embarking on a little father/daughter project of documenting the stories from his side of the family. He is so excited about doing this for our family’s legacy. To make it easy we are going to record them in his own voice and then translate them. You will be able to follow our journey through this blog, and I hope to inspire you to do the same for your family. Companion Care has put together a workbook to help document a lifetime called “Celebrating Life’s Journey” it can be downloaded at our facebook page and printed out as many times as your want, just follow this link for your copy:

https://www.facebook.com/companioncare?sk=app_208412272531040

-Claire

Enriching Life’s Journey www.companioncarenm.com

Temporary Hospital Dementia

companioncare — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:50:23 +0000

Have you ever experienced your mother, father or a grandparent who suddenly became very disoriented and exhibited all the signs of dementia during a hospital stay due to an injury or illness? Well I have. It happened two years ago when my father developed a serious infection that went to the blood. During his stay in the hospital my 81 year old father, who was normally strong and able to function on his own, became so weak that he could not even turn over in bed. I remember it was the second night after the initial danger was over, that he brought me to tears. My dad was suddenly talking out of his mind. The nursing staff did not seem concerned, nor did they tell me it was probably temporary. I went home that night in tears, wondering what was I going to do. If only someone had shared with me that this was a common occurrence and was normally temporary. Two years later, my dad is just fine. He has regained his strength, and is mentally strong. He even has a new Saint Bernard puppy to keep him on his toes. Check out this blog post that I found today for more information this subject. -Claire

http://www.boomertoboomeronline.ca/2010/07/temporary-hospital-dementia/

Support for a caregiver whose spouse has dementia

companioncare — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:47:34 +0000

Spousal caregivers often don’t get consistent help from other family members. They often feel they need to go it alone. Yet, there are resources out there to assist such caregivers. You can contact us at Companion Care or log on to “www.alz.org/newmexico” for more information. Companion Care has trained caregivers who can provide respite care for heavy-duty spousal caregivers.

Leider Workshop

companioncare — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:48:29 +0000

Life transitions happen many times in a lifetime. If you are facing an uncertain future, Richard Leider’s workshop on finding passion and purpose in life may be for you. For more information go to www.can-nm.org

Time

mattayou — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:06:01 +0000

The trees we plant will grow
Under the dark blue sky.
Winter rain makes green fields
And time just keeps on going.
On this land a house is built.
A baby born with a joyful cry.
All is quiet as the sun goes down
And time just keeps on going. (Bob Crew)