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| Jeannie Weber |
The year was 1984 and Los Angeles was in the middle of hosting the summer Olympics, when Jeannie Weber, who had just moved to town, took a part-time job as the Kingsley Manor Retirement Community receptionist on the night shift.
Thirty-five years later, Jeannie, who long ago migrated from the front desk, is the director of sales and marketing. “Kingsley has become my second home,” she smiles, looking over at the rose bushes outside her office. “Who could ask for a nicer place to work? And I just fell in love with the residents – they’re my extended family.”
But Jeannie is far from an anomaly among the Kingsley staff. As of this year, the community has 14 team members celebrating 25 years of employment or more.
“I don’t even think of it as work anymore,” said Emyrose Lacuesta, director of health
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| Emyrose
Lacuesta |
services.
“It’s where I live. It’s where I enjoy being.” Starting her career at Kingsley 31 years ago, Emyrose worked her way up from a part-time charge nurse to director.
“You really get to know the residents, and their families,” she said. “I love that part of it. I miss them when I go on vacation.”
Both Jeannie and Emyrose had a background in their chosen field when they arrived at Kingsley, but for 30-year veteran Angela Pineda, who was still in high school when she started, Kingsley was where she discovered her calling. “I started off working in the dining room part-time,” she said. Later, Angela received her CNA training and was hired in the Care Center. Now, as the life enrichment director for the Care Center she’s found her passion.
“I had no idea when I started here how much I would love coming up with fun, engaging experiences for residents,” Angela said. “I love that I’m contributing to a sense of community. I love the creativity involved.”
“I’m not surprised about the longevity of our employees,” said Executive Director Shaun Rushforth.
“Word gets out that Kingsley Manor is a great place to work and live. We’re a family here.”
Merry Christmas. I have decided to send you a Christmas letter about "Service" this year instead of a card. Service has brought a lot of joy into my life and I hope it will for you. Below are words I wrote in the 1980s as I was pondering on the meaning of service. They still represent my beliefs today.
"Service given freely with no expectation of something in return is one of the greatest sources of true joy and happiness. However, service which is not given freely and unconditionally will bring resentment and unhappiness."
I have hired, trained, and supervised hundreds of employees during my life. During their training, I told them a story about how I learned to make a seemingly boring job fun. The story goes like this:
I had a part-time job as an usher at the BYU Marriot Center where the BYU basketball team play their games. I was assigned, the VIP entrance each year. Most of the people had season tickets and sat in the same seat each year. It was a boring job because everyone knew where his or her seats were and I did not have anything to do.
One year, I decided I was going to do something different. As people came to my entrance, I stood right in front of them as they came in, looked into their eyes, gave them a big smile, and said, "Hi, how are you tonight?" They were shocked and surprised. I am sure they thought I was a little weird. I continued to do it each game during the basketball season;
To my surprise, after a few games, many of the people tried to beat me to the punch by saying "Hi," and wishing me well first. After a few games, they began to treat me as if I was one of their good friends. Some of them even brought me food to eat during the game.
Sometimes, I would see these people downtown away from the Center, and they would come up to me and wanted to know how I was doing. They often had to remind me where I had met them. I was shocked about how something as simple as a smile and saying hi could make such a difference in my relationship with people. I learned from this experience that I could make a boring job fun just by smiling and saying hi. I also learned that it is impossible for me to give more than I receive when I freely give of myself.
I had another experience when I was working at UCSB. I supervised a group of students who were responsible for the student union building when it was open. The only time we could all meet for a weekly staff meeting was at 7:00am. Most of the students at UCSB stay up late and are not use to going to a meeting so early in the morning. I decided to show my appreciation to them by bringing them something to eat. At first, they were very appreciative of my gesture.
These students also worked with the student union catering manager. The manager decided to show his appreciation by fixing them a breakfast for .the meeting.
Before long, the students started to complain when they didn't get what they expected. What started out to be gift of appreciation turned out to be an obligation for me and the catering manager. We decided to stop giving them food because it had become an expectation. The students were disappointed, but I think they learned an important lesson about being grateful. I experienced the joy of giving until it became an obligation.
I have decided to experience the joy of giving as often as possible by freely giving of my time and talents. I have also decided that when giving becomes an obligation or an expectation, I will find another way to give. I hope you experience the joy of giving this Christmas.
May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
-Ellin Ostler, Vista del Monte resident
Vista del Monte Retirement Community in Santa Barbara’s Hidden Valley serves seniors from all walks of life in Southern California.
