fonz impelled: Grieving family gives thanks, 32 times

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Grieving family gives thanks, 32 times - London Free Press

The family was so touched by the care their mother received at a long-term care facility in London they bought new nightgowns for residents to say thank you.

The store owner was so touched by the Calgary family?s generosity she tracked them down and mailed them a partial refund as a way to pay it forward.

The nurses in the wing who cared for and loved the woman, who died days before Christmas, were so touched when they opened the big box of new clothing they cried.

The family that made the generous donation didn?t want to be identified but turned a heartbreaking loss into a small act of kindness that boomeranged from this province to another.

?We were just overwhelmed and thankful and happy,? said Cathy Bardawill, a registered practical nurse at McCormick Home. ?There?s lots of good people in our world.?

Many residents on the Memory Lane wing at the home have dementia and can?t afford new open-backed nightgowns that make it easier to dress them, she noted.

But thanks to one family that wanted to honour their mother and say thank you, each resident on that wing received a new open-backed nightgown.

The woman, in her 90s, suffered from dementia and during the last two weeks of her life her relatives were with her around the clock.

?When we have someone we know is dying on our floor we really pump up the care to ensure we?re not missing anything,? Bardawill said.

Staff brought in extra cots for relatives and fed them at meal time so they wouldn?t have to leave their mom?s side until her peaceful death on Dec. 20.

The family, touched by the kindness, later sent food for those who worked on Memory Lane.

Then one relative went to Geri?s Fashions and bought open-backed nightgowns, three in each size for men and women for all 32 residents on Memory Lane.

?It was so nice of her to do that and so thoughtful,? said Lyrel Waldie, owner-operator of Geri?s Fashions. When she found out about the huge purchase ? the nightgowns range in price from $30 to $45 each ? she contacted the family in Calgary and mailed them a partial refund.

?It was kind of a pay it forward all around,? she said.

The family also sent two large hampers of hygiene products to the home, Bardawill said.

?They said they knew their mom was in good hands and that we loved her. When you hear me say, ?We love the residents,? we truly do. We spend more time with them than we do our own families.?

kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca

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Thursday, January 10, 2013