In Her Memory

Work was rough this week.

I came into work on Sunday, clocked in, said 'good morning' to a few of my old folk and walked into my office (aka the gym). The first thing I do every morning is check my email.

Junk mail...junk mail...then my heart dropped. (For censorship purposes, I will call her by her nickname that she loved).

"DJ-passed away"

 "WHAT?!" I literally said out loud in my office.

It's never fun getting those emails in the morning. It's not fun to find out through email that one of your favorite residents passed away. Especially out of the blue. I had JUST seen her. Spoken to her. Laughed with her. I just couldn't believe it.

This was the first resident that I was actually close to that had died. They constantly tell you that it's "part of the job", "it's life", "it happens"....but I really don't take it that lightly.

DJ was one of the first residents that had moved in when I started working. I got to talk one-on-one with her to get to know her and figure out her interests. She told me she loved theater and she loved ballet. She used to do a lot of that, but she had lost strength in her legs to do any of that anymore. She moved from using her walker to being wheelchair bound in the 7 months she had been at the community. One of my co-workers told me that when she first arrived, she was constantly asking where I was. I loved seeing her everyday in exercise class despite her limited mobility. And boy, did she love to laugh. She was full of compliments, she loved to chat and she loved fashion. My first impression of her was that she was one of the prettiest older ladies I had ever met. Striking blue eyes, a pearly white smile and even though she wore a wig, the red hair complimented her flawless porcelain skin. I told her she reminded me of Lucille Ball. She would laugh and say, "I get that a lot."

Not only was she beautiful, she was so kind. Everyone at work LOVED her. It was because she had a way with people. She would talk in such a way that you always felt good when you walked away from her.

I will miss DJ so much. It's hard because I don't know whether DJ knew who Jesus was...I wish I knew and I think that's what makes it so difficult. I really hope that heaven has gained a new angel.

Rest in Peace, beautiful DJ. You will be so missed.