Knowing that she was lucky enough to get such an opportunity, the daughter is determined to remain on-call so that she can do good for others as well.
Some people will do anything to reciprocate the love and devotion their parents gave them as a child. And one of those people is Lisa Racine who had to come up with a creative way to spend quality time with her father, Harold, at his nursing home amid the pandemic. What she did is truly heartwarming.
A project manager for a printing company, Lisa decided to take on a second job that would allow her to spend time with her father. She exchanged her business casual outfit for an apron as she assumed the role of a custodian at Good Samaritan Society - Stillwater in Minnesota, where her father is a resident. "One day I just was thinking, 'How can I see my dad more?"' she said to KARE. "And I thought, 'Hey, why don't I get a job there?'"
At the time, she hadn't told her 87-year-old dad what she had done. So when she walked through the doors of the nursing home in December 2020 as a new hire, he was ecstatic. It was "one of the happiest days of my life. I was shocked, really," he told the outlet. "I was kind of dumbfounded. 'How did you get in?'" Lisa's job consists of scrubbing plates and mopping floors. “It's quite glamorous,” she joked about her job. But none of that matters when she considers the moments she gets to spend with her dad.
Being able to be by her widowed father's side is "priceless." "I can't believe they pay me for this," she said. "I could take a yoga class or go to happy hour, but I'd rather come and mop the floor and clean dishes so I can see my dad… He's cleaned up plenty of messes after me in the past." But it isn't just Lisa who is benefitting from the job. The Good Samaritan Society - Stillwater is grateful for her help especially as the pandemic had made it difficult for them to fill up open positions. Lisa's cousin, Rene Racine, who works for the society, told KARE, "Having her reach out and wanting to come to work was an absolute godsend for us."
In addition to this "win-win" situation, as Rene calls it, Lisa was also able to receive her first COVID vaccine, along with her dad. While the Society is carefully filtering people through their doors to ensure family members can see the vaccinated residents, the devoted daughter doesn't want to give up her job just yet. Choosing to remain on an on-call basis, her work makes her feel like she is "doing something good for other people."
As for the father for whom Lisa is doing all this, he couldn't be happier. "The trials and tribulations of raising [eight] children, in the end it certainly paid off," Harold stated. "I'm getting my rewards back, tenfold."
Lisa isn't the only one making such an effort to be with someone she cares for. Mary Daniels is a 57-year-old woman who runs a medical billing and patient advocacy business, according to People. But on two nights every week, she too exchanges her formalwear for casual clothing as she goes to an assisted living facility, where she begins her second job as a part-time dishwasher. The reason? So she can be with her 66-year-old husband, Steve, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“The first day I knocked on the door of his room and he said ‘Mary!’ We hugged. We both cried. He knew me. I got to him in time," she said. "That is an incredible blessing.” With such immense love binding them, the pandemic didn't stand a chance. "I couldn't let COVID keep us apart," Mary said of her husband of 24 years.
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Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by Maskot (Representative Image)
