Since I was a child me and my family would participate in volunteering in our community, from helping a neighbor move to helping them get a meal. I was raised a practicing Christian and still am. Both of my parents taught me by example - not by words, so now as a grown person I still enjoy helping the community.

I was always the first one to volunteer my time for a project - for this reason I was motivated to become a home health aide. As a home healthcare worker I would pride myself in going beyond my expectations to make my patients feel better in their own home.

I was taking care of one elderly male patient with dementia who could not speak. Most of our conversations were one sided - and even though he wasn't speaking, I sensed he was still aware .

One day while bathing him he said, "Thank you" - twice!! The best feeling ever - it made my heart melt! Despite him not being able to speak, my consistent nurturing of our connection led to him revealing glimpses of his personality before his dementia took over - and it was heartwarming to witness. It could have been a simple interaction of pranking him (his wife told me he was always such a prankster) and him getting the joke- or him having the awareness to not eat his usual meals on wheels food when I told him I'd bring in homemade lasagna. Food is a love language - to see his face light up during those brief moments of acknowledgement and connection truly made all the hard work worth it!

I had a special connection with some of my patients - and as their family noticed an improvement in their wellbeig - they in turn, treated me like family. I encourage more people to adopt this giving mentality - it makes America a great place to live.