About Me

For the past twenty-two years Nashua has been my hometown. And prior to that, I resided for one year in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Originally from Southern California, I grew up in a family where we were taught honesty and the value of hard work. My parents modeled integrity as well as the importance of caring for and serving others. We were raised to care about the welfare of others and lend a hand to help them where we could. These memorable childhood experiences would later influence the personal and professional choices in my life.

In my mind there is the memory of my sisters, myself, and my mother helping an elderly, disabled neighbor get his home clean and in order. We were able to take care of household chores that “Uncle Gus” was physically unable to do. There were times when we would help my mother’s friend and neighbor, Mrs. Grandsen, who occasionally needed assistance with keeping up her home. She was a wonderful person whose stories of her life were like something out of a novel and whose door was always open to us. It was as though she really was my Aunt Ethel. These people and times colored my life. We enjoyed being of service to them. Being there for others was normal to us and was accompanied by the joy of having made someone’s life easier and more comfortable.

Let me share with you some examples of my work history. Several years ago I served as receptionist in an exclusive convalescent home in Pasadena, California. My duties there included giving families tours of the facility and completing intake paperwork as their loved one came to live there. Conversing with the varied and interesting residents who came from a variety of professions was a delight for me. I found them to be fascinating and often possessing exceptional wisdom that came from the experiences of their lives. It was my special task to edit and write a monthly newsletter for the residents and employees often including poetry, someone’s favorite recipe, tidbits of news regarding someone who resided there, and short biographies of the residents and employees. One dear lady wrote poems that I could share in the newsletter. The physical therapist artfully designed the cover of a newsletter for December. There were the most recent birthdays noted and a short article on the most recent holiday celebrated there – like St. Patty’s Day, Christmas or Easter. These times were special and memorable to me. I still treasure the experience of knowing the dear ones whom I met there.

Later, I had the pleasure of working with three nurses at a hospital in Patient Review and Discharge Planning. It was a wonderful and busy job. Two of the nurses coordinated the plans for elderly patients requiring special care and/or facilities as they were discharged from the hospital. Great efforts were made to find a good fit and an acceptable “home” for patients to have the care and aid they needed. This may include rehabilitation for one recovering from hip surgery or in-home care for those recovering from or dealing with other illnesses. I occasionally spoke with a patient’s family and interacted with physicians, nurses, and others in the helping professions and therapies.

Another group of caring professionals that I worked with were the staff at Hospice in Nashua. As an administrative assistant I spoke with family members by phone, worked with nurses and the volunteer coordinator, and was part of the team that helped clients deal with the effects of terminal disease. It was a profound learning experience for me. I had the privilege to work with and learn from an exceptional group of loving, caring people who exhibited compassion, confidentiality, and kindness as they helped those going through a vulnerable time in their lives. A little sidebar to be noted was the fact that years later I became a Hospice volunteer and was blessed in sharing in a client’s life as she dealt with catastrophic illness. I will never forget this courageous woman and the times we shared together.

More recently, I was employed at a residential retirement home in New Hampshire. I prepared meals, cleaned, assisted residents with their care needs, read aloud, conversed and walked with and generally enjoyed my time with those that called this facility “home”. I worked for two nurses who own the business and who fully trusted me as homemaker and caretaker of our little “family” there. The residents were interesting and fun, having lots of humorous stories to tell. I treated them with the respect and dignity they were due and they were appreciative and respectful to me. They knew I loved them and I had their love as well.

I continue to have a desire to serve and assist seniors to enable them to stay in their homes as they live comfortable lives in a familiar place they know and love. May their lives to be fun and full of joy. I also continue to care about people and have compassion towards those whose desire it is to stay in the warmth of their homes, living well, being cared for and safe.

The dignity of each person is of primary importance to me. Each of us is entitled to respect and the recognition of who we are in the lives of our loved ones, and our value in society. The assistance and care of people, with high regard for their dignity and utmost respect for each person is what my service and care is all about. Seniors and the elderly deserve trustworthy and high quality care and help. It is my hope and vision that the services and help coming from “Colleen Cares” will consistently live up to the standards I have set and that those lives whom I have touched will be better having been served by me.