Health aide's work includes lots of love

Throughout her quarter-century as a home health aide, first at the Mercy Sisters' Motherhouse and now at the Mercy-sponsored McAuley Residence in Albany, Mrs. Burke has watched for drugstore sales on Kleenex.

When prices go down, she stocks up. She knows how difficult it is for residents of McAuley, an assisted-living residence, to get out to buy simple supplies like Kleenex, so she often arrives at work toting bags of tissues. Without prodding from the Mercy Sisters in charge, she would never ask anyone to pay her back.

Signs of love

"Yep, I do," Mrs. Burke herself added solemnly. "Especially older people."

Now celebrating 25 years as an aide, Mrs. Burke seems to have been born with that love. An Albany native, she was only a 10-year-old parishioner of St. Patrick's Church when she started volunteering at an Albany home for the aged run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

BY the time she was in high school, Janice was skipping school just to spend more time feeding and bathing residents. "My heart was just there," she said simply.

Career of it

That was in 1973. Today, Mrs. Burke cares for some of the Mercy Sisters who supervised her in those early days and now live at McAuley: clothing and feeding them, taking them to church and doctor's appointments, playing bingo and creating crafts.

"I must have taken care of over 100-and-some sisters!" she boasted.

Final moments

"I laid on her chest and cried," Mrs. Burke remembered. "She was so close to my age."

Other deaths have inspired wonder. A favorite patient, Sister Mary Amabilis Michaels, used to teach Mrs. Burke about God. The aide loved to see the sister's pet bird, Perky, who sat on a Geri-chair tray to welcome visitors.

God with us

Knowing that many patients may die while in their care might cause some to choose another career, but Mrs. Burke said she enjoys being with the dying, especially praying with them.

"If you have God with you, it's easy to take care of them," she noted.

Happy day

"Sister Bridget Kane helped me get dressed," Mrs. Burke recalled with a laugh. Because brides are often late for their weddings, "she wanted me to be late. I was saying, `I'm not going to be late!'"

However, the bride did take a few minutes to visit some friends: the sisters in the infirmary who were too ill to attend the wedding but wanted to see her in her gown.

Up from ashes

In 1995, Mrs. Burke came to McAuley Residence, a 48-bed building for retired Mercy Sisters, Holy Name sisters, clergy, and lay men and women. There, she met many old friends, including Sister Kathleen Nolan, RSM, once her supervisor, who had taught Mrs. Burke an important lesson a quarter-century before.

"I always put the sisters on a pedestal," the aide remembered. "She said to me, `Just because I'm a sister [doesn't mean I'm not] still human.'"

Close friends

Mrs. Burke remembered her surprise when, on the way to a Bingo game, the elderly Sister Jerome asked to stop at the fancy restaurant, then yelled to the waiter, "We need some sandwiches. Hurry up!" The waiter complied.

Sister Jerome isn't quite as verbal as she once was; but when The Evangelist visited recently, she posed for photos with the aide she calls "my Janny" and still managed to protest at Mrs. Burke's promise to come into her room at 5 a.m.: "Oh, my God! Don't wake me up!"

Lifetime commitment

"I'll be 53 this year," Mrs. Burke told The Evangelist. "I'm not even thinking about retirement. I feel that God gives me the strength to do what I have to do -- and it feels like a family to me, not a job."

Home health aides aren't paid much, but this one says she'll work for free: If she ever does retire, Mrs. Burke wants to come back as a volunteer.

Sister Rita answered affectionately: "We'll even save you a bed, when the time comes."

(03-11-99) [[In-content Ad]]