We’ve heard from daughters, sons and spouses today – now for our last blog, we’ll hear from the professional caregiver side. Thanks to Mark from CiminoCare for offering his perspective on the value and dedication of the professional caregiver.

I hope you all have enjoyed our blog series for the The Longest Day – and remember to honor our caregivers any chance you get!

An eerie realization has come over me regarding the timing of this event on the 20, on behalf of those facing Alzheimer’s: June, 2012 represents the 20-year anniversary of the opening of CiminoCare’s first Alzheimer’s and Dementia specialized community. I still remember the day we opened Burlingame Villa, in June of 1992. On that day I thought “new life has been breathed into these walls, and this home for those suffering from memory loss will never sleep, it will operate 24/7, 365 days a year. It will always be operational from this day forward.”

So when I ponder the deep meaning of what “The Longest Day” means to me as a care professional, the thoughts that naturally flow from my conscious are that The work never ends! As long as there are those who must face Alzheimer’s day after day, we will be there to care for them, bring dignity, maximum life enrichment and as much independence as possible to their lives, and press on in our support for a cure. Until a cure, since Alzheimer’s is a constant, we are a constant. Ongoing, in continual motion, and never-failing, we strive toward the goal set before us.

Today, June, 20, we look back over those years, and quantify the The Longest Day: 20 years, which represents 240 months, which represents 7,300 days, representing 175,200 hours, representing 10,512,000 minutes of constant, never-ending care delivered by dedicated caregiving Angels at community care facilities across the country. And it is still going on – right at the moment these words are being written, and then as these words are being read, it simply never ends. Let us show our appreciation to those front-line, dedicated, always faithful, institutional caregivers who work tirelessly to give our loved-ones a quality life filled with dignity and respect.

Thank you for being a constant, and for your continual care of the ones who came before us, and on whose shoulders we stand.