VVCC Van Driver Miller Bizardi shares a poignant time he spent with a neighbor.
I recently had a vivid experience while transporting a neighbor named Rosemary to a doctor’s appointment and back to her apartment. Rosemary informed me that she needed to pick up her prescriptions, but the stop was not in my manifest. Looking at my schedule I realized that I had time to pick up the prescription between other neighbor transports. I asked her to call VVCC’s Call Center about the request and that I would gladly pick up the prescription.
When I arrived back to pick up Rosemary’s payment to purchase her prescriptions, I found Rosemary sitting in her chair with a blood pressure monitor on her wrist. It was obvious that she was in distress by the look on her face, and she asked me to please stay and sit down with her. She informed me that her blood pressure was not coming down and that had alarmed her, causing some anxiety. She had called the doctor’s office that I took her to that morning.
She shared her concerns about her blood pressure not coming down after her doctor’s visit that morning. She mentioned to them that I was there with her and I was to pick up prescriptions for her. The lady on the phone with Rosemary told her to have me go and get the prescriptions for her. So, making sure Rosemary would be okay before I left, I went to pick up her prescriptions. When I returned to Rosemary’s apartment, she was so glad to see me with her prescriptions in my hands. Rosemary asked if I would stay awhile with her. I saw she was still distressed. But I had another neighbor to take grocery shopping. I called the neighbor to let him know that I would be delayed due to an unexpected incident. He gladly consented. He told me he was in no hurry and to take as much time as I needed. Now with time to comfort Rosemary, she began to share about how she dealt with anxiety that brought on fear of the worst. I asked Rosemary if there was anyone that I could call for her, like a family member, a friend or neighbor. Rosemary said she had no one, no one in her life to call. I began to turn my attention to the anxiety that she was experiencing at that time. I continued by sharing my past experiences with anxiety and how my faith helped me.
Rosemary asked if I would pray with her. I did and before I left, I knew Rosemary and I were at peace and content. I assured her that she was going to be fine and I knew that spending that extra time with Rosemary and the conversation we had changed both of us for the good: for her, a compassionate act from a service provider brought peace and comfort; for me, a reminder and a resurgence of the desire in my heart to provide assistance and care for the elderly, which brought me to work for Verde Valley Caregivers.
It is rewarding and an accomplishment to partner with the men and women associated with VVCC. We become the comfort, the family member, neighbor, son or daughter, the hands, the feet, legs, and voice for our elderly community members of the Verde Valley. As a service provider with this wonderful institution, we provide, present, and extend the benefits, aims and values of the Verde Valley Caregivers’ mission statement. I have been told on many occasions by our neighbors, that VVCC is a God send.
