In 2014, my father, Robert Rucker, required non-medical home care. My father had become a bi-lateral below the knee amputee and he was visually impaired due to secondary complications of diabetes. My father was a construction worker for over 50 years. He was a very strong and proud man who was cognitively intact. He was also a die-hard EAGLES FAN!

After my dads surgeries, my sister and I decided that we would bring him home to live with us. He would live with me for the first year and then move with my sister and her family the following year. The first three months were challenging trying to find adequate home care services to assist me with his care. After three home assessments with three different home care agencies and three call backs saying “sorry, deAnna, we are not able to provide services for your father, we do not have a caregiver who can meet his needs right now”. I took it upon myself to become my father’s Common Law Employer.

This allowed me to hire and train the caregivers needed for my father’s care. My father lived at home with his family surrounded by his grandchildren whom he absolutely loved, attending Eagles games and family gatherings and celebrating his 75th birthday surrounded by his life-long friends until his demise in 2018.

I thank God that my sister and I were able to provide that for him in the comforts of our homes. My father is a true example of how individualized personal care and support at home is the answer to independence for loved ones.