A Mother's Love and Care is Forever
Left to Right: Andrea Miller, Bethany Proudfoot, Bob Speelman, and Mary Limbacher.
May 10, 2019NOTE: This story was taken from the blog of Foundations Health leader Bob Speelman. Each week Bob works at one of his facilities in different roles such as housekeeping, or as a nursing assistant, to bring A Culture of Care.
I spent the day at Scenic Pointe our 164-bed facility in Millersburg, Ohio. Bethany Proudfoot is the Administrator there and Andrea Miller is the Director of Nursing. They both are amazing leaders, people, and we are fortunate to have them.
I had the opportunity to work with an STNA by the name of Mary Limbacher. Mary is 35 years old, is married to the love of her life Caleb. Mary told me she met Caleb at a hog roast. She was throwing an apple at her uncle and hit Caleb in the head by mistake. They’ve been together ever since. They have 12 children (they are foster parents – not all biological). She laughed and told me that vacation for her is coming to work.
Mary told me she began taking kids in when her best friend had breast cancer. To help out, Mary let her kids stay with her and Caleb. Then she took in others in need and has been doing it ever since.
You could tell Mary is a great mom by just watching her with the residents. The way she spoke to them, helped them, touched them, and hugged them. Mary is a caregiver at heart.
Mary’s mom, Sharon Mullins, is an STNA at our other facility, Sycamore Run, just down the hill and she has been with the company for 40 years. Mary told me that her mom used to be Amish, but their family left the Amish when her mom was little. Mary laughed and said, “She was so short she couldn’t jump the fence, she had to crawl under it.” Mary said, ”My mom is my rock. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever known.”
How fitting with Mother’s Day this Sunday to have two powerful examples of mothers and caregivers. I left Scenic Pointe and called my mom on my way home and thanked her for all the love she showed me and all the sacrifices she made so that I could succeed. That’s what mothers do. I’m so glad we have a lot of mothers caring for our residents!
My visit to Scenic and my time with Mary reminded me of a children’s book I read years ago called Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. I have included a link below for you to listen to this short story.
I hope all the Mother’s out there have a wonderful Mother’s Day!