Dear Editor:
This is a love letter; an unabashed one whose theme is gratitude and whose target is an exemplary group of women and men who are our neighbours and friends, whose kids and grandkids go to the same schools as ours, who shop at the same stores, who share the same worries the rest of us do about the manifold impact of COVID-19.
I’m talking about the women and men who work at the Wellington Terrace Long-Term Care Residence.
Regardless of which department they work in at the Terrace, the people are unfailingly polite and cheerful to residents and visitors alike. They ask how you’re doing and share a quick story of some recent interaction with your loved one who lives there. And these conversations aren’t feigned, they’re genuine and you feel it.
Our family has a 22-year history with the Terrace since both our father and mother were residents there – Mom, until just last week. Though our parents’ needs were very different during their respective residencies, both were met with quiet competence and compassion by a multidiscipline team of professional caregivers. And, as each of our parents neared the end of life, that care never diminished. Their last days at the Terrace were attended by the same competence and compassion as their first days.
Professional competence doesn’t happen by accident. As an example, the fact that every resident at the Terrace was shielded from COVID-19 was the result of policies and procedures that were set in place by administrators who knew what they were doing and which have been unfailingly practiced for years.
But what about compassion? Why is it that in 22 years, we never met a single Terrace employee who didn’t exude it, who didn’t display a genuine concern for the residents under their care? One suspects it’s because those employed there – at desks; pushing refreshment, housecleaning and medication carts; wearing tool belts; conducting myriad social and physical activities; and wearing stethoscopes – see what they do as a vocation and not as merely a job.
We truly wish we could thank every Wellington Terrace staff member by name in this letter, but we can’t. Space and privacy considerations won’t allow it. But you know who you are. And, perhaps more importantly, so do the rest of us. And we honour you with all our hearts!
The Cooper/Pearson Family,
Elora