Not Just Your Average Caregiver!

Richmond pulls into the parking lot near the south side of Medicine Lake. It is too cold to go fishing today, but they have time to enjoy the view and make plans for a warmer day. Together, they take a short walk down to the dock, watch the lake for a few minutes, then head back to the car to stay warm.
“Now what?” asks Donald.
“Well, how about writing a song?” Richmond, a local singer/songwriter and senior services caregiver, pulls out a pen and paper and begins to take notes. “I’ll say a line and then you say a line,” he suggests.
“Water is good medicine!” says Richmond

“Water is good for your heart!” responds Donald.
Later, after lunch at a local diner, Richmond drops Donald off at his home where he lives with Betty, his wife of 59 years. They will see each other again in two days. Richmond is Donald’s companion caregiver, and works for At Home Solutions in Edina. “Richmond was hired specifically for Donald,” says Heather Reynolds, Director of Operations for At Home Solutions. “The family wanted a male caregiver to be a driver for Donald, to take him to his office 3 days a week and to provide some activities away from home so that they could have a break from daily caregiving.”

Donald Johnson is a retired business owner suffering from moderate dementia. His wife, Betty, has been his primary caregiver for the last five years, since his dementia began to cause safety concerns. Donald continues to stay in touch with some of his clients and when it became clear that he needed someone to drive him to his office, Betty called At Home Solutions to find out about their services.

Kristin Kopp, owner and president of At Home Solutions, is an experienced caregiver. She responded to the Johnson’s needs right away. “We offer our clients the option of interviewing potential caregivers. Since we didn’t have any male caregivers available at the time, we posted a job description for the Johnson’s and Richmond answered.”

The locally owned and operated At Home Solutions is a Home Health and Companion Care Agency that serves the seven county Twin Cities area. Because they are smaller and not franchised by a national corporation, they are able to respond to individual client’s needs and provide a very family-friendly service.
“Families choose us because we give them options, like flexible scheduling.” Heather goes on to say. “We have excellent caregivers who really go the extra mile to assist their clients and families. Besides the usual daily cares expected of a home health aide, we have had caregivers help create autobiographies, cook gourmet meals, sort through years of accumulated photos, help host parties, and create exercise plans.”

The Johnson’s liked Richmond right away. He and Donald have similar interests and they could tell that he was a compassionate and intelligent person. Richmond came prepared with a list of ideas and activities that would engage Donald’s mind and body. Betty recalls Richmond’s first week of service for the family: “At first we just needed a driver, but it didn’t take long to realize that Donald needed the companionship even more.”

Donald forgot all about the song they wrote that day. But Richmond didn’t. He went home and took out his guitar. A few weeks later, Richmond told his supervisor that he had written a song with Donald and he was planning to perform it for the family the next week at their quarterly case review meeting.
Betty, Donald, their daughter, and two of the staff from At Home Solutions gathered the next week to discuss the plan of care. The family loves Richmond—they all agree he is a perfect match for Donald. They appreciate his gentleness, his forethought to Donald’s safety and comfort, and his ideas for activities to keep Donald engaged and stimulated. They do have some concerns about Donald’s changing health and they are considering having Richmond fly with them to a wedding next fall to provide some additional support for him. The team of family and care managers discussed options and updated Donald’s service plan.

Then Richmond arrived and everyone prepared to listen to the song. Richmond sat down next to Donald, holding a piece of paper between them printed with the lyrics. “Do you remember writing this song?” he asked. Donald did. They retold the story of the day by the lake. “We were talking about how healing water can be,” said Richmond, “The song is called ‘Water Medicine.’”

With his eyes on Donald, Richmond began. “Remember your part, Donald?” he whispered. “…the chorus?” Donald nodded.

The music had a foot tapping rhythm. The lyrics were touching and poignant about the healing power of water and the love of one’s family.

Donald’s face lit up when the chorus began—a simple, repetitious line: “Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa….water” he sang, “Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa….water” His deep voice joined Richmond’s as they smiled at each other. Unaware that anyone else was in the room, they relived that moment near the lake when the song began.

It was clear that this was much more than just your average caregiver and client relationship.

WATER MEDICINE
BY DJ and RICHMOND

Water is good medicine
Water good for heart
Water good for soul
Water fills the whole of my heart
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa water
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa water

Water clears my mind
Water anytime
Flow my beauty out
Water makes me cry and sigh
She begs the question why water
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa why water
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa why water


Why do children cry
The tears of salty water
They long for mother father-No other will do
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa why water
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa why water

Water water everywhere
Nor-a drop to drink
Water everywhere
And all the boards do shrink
Cry me a river-I am your true blue-water giver
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa why water
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa why water


Betty is my water
We love our sons and daughters
I would never cry you a river
Cause I am your true blue sincere Donald water giver!