I APPRECIATE YOU

When you tell me to talk correctly.  I appreciate you. 

You do not know that I worry that the day will come when I will not be able to talk at all. 

When you stare at your phone when I am talking to you without answering me. You tell me you heard me without looking up from your screen. I appreciate you.

When you are assisting me, but you have your phone on speaker. You try to assist me using only one hand. I can hear you. I can also hear the person you are talking to. They can hear what is going on while you are assisting me. I appreciate you. 

When you ask me who I think I am?  I ask you to please put down your phone until you've finished assisting me. You get angry. You tell me I don't pay your phone bill. I don't sign your paycheck. I can not tell you what to do. You end by telling me that if this agency was a Black agency that they would not put up with me. I feel somewhat confused and a little offended by that statement. I appreciate you.

When you tell me you are not going to wait on me hand and foot. If I want a meal I should come to you. I appreciate you

As long as my needs are met that's all that matters I have been told that over and over since moving here.

Things will be good for a while. Then you'll be obsessed with your phone or you'll ignore me when I speak to you. Your behavior will annoy me until I say something. You'll get angry. I'll cry. The end. It's a little dance that we do. The Joanne/Caregiver Dance.

I know I am just a series of tasks to you. Tasks that you have to complete before the end of your shift You forget that I am a person. Or, maybe, you really don't care?.

I appreciate all of you. Wanna know why? Well, for one thing, you have made me realize how happy I am to no longer have a cellphone. But the main reason I appreciate all of you is you show up. You can't stay home if there is inclement weather. You sacrifice  And, at times, risk your lives to get here. I appreciate your dedication.

When I tell you to get home safely when your shift ends, those are not just words, I really mean it.

I appreciate all of you because you have a very important job. You are the reason I am able to live my life. 

Thank you!