Anna's Girls

Just before I got married this spring, I talked Lucas, our Volunteer Maryland Coordinator and my little brother, into one last interview before I left for my nuptials (leaving him with the paperwork, of course). We found ourselves at the home of the Gibbons family in Brooklyn. The Gibbons' family consists of Anna Gibbons and her two daughters, Helen and Paula Gibbons. They live together with their rambunctious Pug, Chris. Lucas and I sat down in their dining room and laid out three interview packets to begin work. It was the longest interview I've ever conducted as we laughed, told stories, and drank iced tea. However, there was one moment of sobering truth that I will never forget.

Anna explained to Lucas and I that she and her daughters had been to settle their funeral arrangements last week. They had picked out and paid for everything that would be necessary, which lifted a huge weight off of Anna's shoulders. But there was still something missing. See, Anna's daughters are both disabled adults. They are both talented and capable women, but they depend on Anna, especially since neither daughter drives. Partners in Care is the missing piece for these women. Anna said, with little tears shining softly, "It is such a big relief to have that off my shoulders for these girls of mine... to know that we have an organization called Partners in Care...that they can call someone that will take care of them by taking them places and doing things for them, if I go first."


As I writer, I would rather leave that last line hanging for you as it has resonated in my mind ever since. The depth of relief in those women, the strength in Anna's heart to want to care for her daughters, even after the event of her death, is a love that goes beyond my ability to describe it. All I know is I am grateful to be a part of Partners in Care, a part of the solution, and a piece of Anna's hand in caring for her girls.