Home Instead® CAREGiver of the Month Tina Johnson loves and admires her 88-year-old client, who thinks of Tina as a second daughter. The client has a strong faith, and she’s not afraid to share it with Tina. On one occasion, the client told Tina, “Pray with me and talk with me.” Tina explained: “She says the rosary and prays to the Lord. If she’s not talking to me, she is praying.”
Tina also pointed out that she has lots of energy. “She amazes me and is wonderful. She makes me so happy. She loves to engage. I’ve had her as a client since October, shortly after I started with Home Instead, and I’ve been with her when she was in the hospital. I love working with her,” said Tina, who is in awe of the client’s knowledge of the Victoria area and her ability to guide Tina as she drives through areas of Victoria that Tina has never seen. “The client was born and raised in Victoria.
“She is an interesting person who lost her parents at a relatively young age and had to grow up faster than most people do. She raised her younger brother from the time he was 12. I’ve learned a lot from her. I stay off the main roads when I am driving her because the busy arteries bother her. We go through the neighborhoods, and it’s like a good walk down memory lane for her. When she shops, she stops and talks to a lot of people. She is the “First Lady” at her bank. Her husband worked at the bank for 10 years. He traveled for another job 15 years, and she traveled with him. He retired at 87 and died at 90 two years ago. She talks about him a lot.”
Tina added: “She is a devout Catholic, and I take her to the convent, where she visits the nuns twice a week. She knows all of the sisters. She drinks tea and visits with them Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesday is the beauty shop day. The grocery run is Saturday, and it takes the whole morning. She plans well for grocery shopping and makes out her own list. She knows exactly what she wants. She goes from one end of the store to the other.”
Tina’s client rises each day at 4:30 a.m., and she’s ready to go shopping at 8:30 when Tina arrives. “She loves Dillard’s and Kohl’s. She shops at one or two stores and then is ready to go home. She is very particular about the ways she looks. She wears ironed and starched pants. Her collars stand up. She is in the routine of looking good and is beautiful. Her home is her safe place, a haven that has huge oak trees. She feeds the deer, squirrels and birds around her home. When the weather is good, she sits outside in a chair and I help take care of the yard and flower box.”
Tina’s client, who uses a walker, fell at home one winter morning before Tina arrived for her shift and injured her hip. Tina said: “She had a rough morning, and it was a little setback. She was hospitalized overnight. She was scared at first, but it never stopped her. I was behind the ambulance as I drove to my shift. When it kept heading in the direction of her home, I said to myself, ‘Please don’t let it be her.’ When I got there right after the ambulance, I saw her covered with blood. I got towels. She told the EMTs, ‘You can all go now. My angel is here.’ ”
Tina loves being “that angel.” She joined Home Instead of Victoria, which is owned by Pietro Jordao and Dillon Rice, following her retirement from a 29-year career in public education. “I taught physical education and health science, and I coached. After I retired, I redid my home. Then I got bored sitting at home. I love elderly people. I had been helping seniors in my area.”
Tina also has been helping her mother, who has dementia. “In mid-March, we were trying to place my mother in a care community and were looking at one in Coleman, Texas. My parents’ hometown is somewhat near Abilene, which is 7½ hours from Victoria. We had a private-duty caregiver helping Dad with Mom, but she quit. Dad is still mobile, but he needs help. My cousin had been checking on my parents three or four times a day.”
Tina loves Home Instead, saying “wholeheartedly so, because it is great and has a wonderful staff. Everyone communicates well.” Asked about missing her school position, Tina said, “I do not substitute teach. This is what I do now.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (361) 433-0330 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
