Customer Service in the Compassion Business

This summer has been a summer of great loss for me.  I lost my father to alzheimer's and had to face the reality that he is gone.  During the timeframe that my family and I knew he was declining and was inevitably leaving us, I experienced the most incredible customer service and compassion I have ever experienced. 

For those of you that may not know me, let me provide some quick background information.  My family knew my father had alzheimer's for several years and the inevitable was coming.  He progressed through the disease and as you would expect his memory and mobility slowly digressed.  Over the last year or so, it became necessary to have personal care for him to supplement the care he was receiving from the assisted living center.  We were very fortunate to meet and hire two gentlemen, Darren Brown and Kevin Celestain, that became my father's primary care givers.  They became constant companions to my father making sure he was bathed, fed, medicated, entertained, and generally maintained the highest quality of life he possibly could.  

My father was an incredible person and he and my mother had nine kids (one died at child birth) as well as starting and cultivating a multi-million dollar business that he grew and left to his children to continue to grow and manage.  As you can imagine with so many kids, the family grew and family was a very big part of his life. Seven of his eight children lived in Houston and we tried to make sure that one of us saw him and spent time with him every day. 

As the disease progressed it was incredibly important that my father regularly exercised (walked and simply got out of bed without hurting himself), took his medications, ate his food, and was regularly bathed and cleaned.  And it was just as important that we knew if he did not do these things.  Darrin and Kevin provided these very basic human services that opened my eyes to the incredibly difficult and vitally important role they played in the maintaining my father's quality of life and his dignity.  They were his advocate, his friend, his communication vehicle to his children, his wife, the nurses, and the doctor.  In those difficult, demeaning situations that can take away a person's dignity, they showed their compassion, humanity, and love.  On the rare occasion when my father struck out at them because he was experiencing discomfort or embarrassment, they turned the other cheek and realized it was the disease and not the man.  Their over abundance of compassion and love in the most difficult of situations was truly inspiring and venerable.

The care that both Darrin and Kevin provided my father, and the care that other care givers provide to other families in similar situations, is an example of humanity at it's finest.  The service of compassion, patience, and love that they provide on a daily basis is truly awe inspiring.  To label this customer service is difficult because the service is so personal and human.  However, it is the best possible kind of customer service.  It is a service that is critical and often not thought of until you have to experience it first hand.  I was fortunate enough that my customer service experience was one I will always appreciate and be grateful for.