Inseparable: Eastern Ontario man takes job at seniors' home to visit mom
Unable to see his 90-year-old mother at her Rockland, Ont., retirement home, Serge Brazeau asked to work there
When a seniors' home in Rockland, Ont., restricted visitors to protect its vulnerable residents from COVID-19, Serge Brazeau came up with a workaround: To continue seeing his 90-year-old mother, he took a job as a custodian there.
Now, in addition to being a jack of all trades at L'Oasis Residence Simon, Brazeau, 68, has become a sort of surrogate son to other elderly residents whose own loved ones are unable to visit.
It's a privilege that I have because I'm working here. A lot of these people don't get to see their family.- Serge Brazeau
Brazeau, who retired in 2008 after 35 years at the Royal Canadian Mint, sums up his decision to rejoin the workforce after a 13-year hiatus in one word: "COVID."
Brazeau's widowed mother Marie-Jeanne had a slight stroke in 2019. In December, she moved from the family farmhouse in nearby Hammond, Ont., to the 39-room seniors' residence in Rockland, where Brazeau and his siblings would visit and occasionally volunteer.
Less than three months later, the pandemic struck. Staff were in short supply. Visits were curtailed.
"They needed more help. Because of all the rules and regulations, you need more people. So I got on the payroll and I've been here ever since," said Brazeau matter-of-factly.
He now works at least three morning shifts a week, delivering meals, washing dishes and cleaning. "I go around the rooms and pick up garbage and talk to the people," said Brazeau.
The job pays the pensioner a modest hourly wage. The real benefit is the access it provides to his mother.
"She needed it. Going from living alone where she was very independent ... to living here … with reduced activities," said Brazeau. "From working like crazy to doing almost nothing. It's a shock."
Brazeau is extremely careful to minimize any risk to his mother or any of the other residents. He wears a mask, takes his temperature before every shift and maintains a two-metre distance from everyone at all times.
"Nurse Jacqueline, she keeps us on our toes," said Brazeau, referring to one of the home's senior staff members.
Brazeau gets tested for COVID-19 every two weeks; next week's will be his 16th nasal swab. He sees it as a small inconvenience in exchange for seeing his mom.
"It's a privilege that I have because I'm working here. A lot of these people don't get to see their family," said Brazeau. "You meet the people. You get to know them. After two weeks, you know almost everything about them. When I go from room to room I talk to them, and they get to be like family. They appreciate what you do."
And they show it, too.
"They give you a little chocolate bar. One gives you a Pepsi. Sometimes I say, 'No, no,' because I don't want to get fat. But they keep on giving," said Brazeau.
And so does he. Brazeau is helping some residents connect with loved ones over iPads. "I'm training one lady now. She got one a couple of weeks ago," said Brazeau. "We're getting there."
Brazeau likes to think his visits help keep his mom and her neighbours from getting depressed. And it makes him feel good, too. "It gets me out of the house. I feel useful because they appreciate it so much. It's gratifying," he said.
"For me, it's not a job," Brazeau said. "There's a resident here who's 97 years old. In the summertime he's on his knees and he trims the side of the laneway and the grass. I asked him, 'Why do you do it?' And he says, 'I love it. It's for love.'
"So I guess that's why I do it, too."
