HomeI Was Paid to Pretend to Be an Elderly Woman's Son — Then She Changed My Life Forever
I Was Paid to Pretend to Be an Elderly Woman's Son — Then She Changed My Life Forever
Discover more
Dairy & Eggs
Eggs
eggs
A Job I Took for Money Became the Most Important Relationship of My Life
Engaging Introduction
I was paid to pretend I was an elderly woman's son. After she died, the nursing home said she left something behind for me.
Discover more
Eggs
Baked Goods
eggs
I took the job because I was desperate. My rent was due, my bank account was overdrawn, and the freelance graphic design work I'd been promised had fallen through. I saw an online ad: "Seeking compassionate companion for elderly woman with dementia. Must be available weekday afternoons. References required. $25/hour."
I didn't have references. I didn't have experience with dementia. I didn't even like old people, not really—they made me uncomfortable with their fragility, their slowness, their quiet demands.
But I had rent. So I lied.
I said I'd cared for my grandmother. I said I understood the disease. I said I was patient, kind, and reliable.
I was none of those things. But I needed the money.
They hired me the next day. Mrs. Eleanor Whitmore, eighty-four years old, had been at the Golden Pines Nursing Home for three years. Her son, a successful attorney in Chicago, visited twice a year and called every Sunday. He paid for her care. He paid for me.
Discover more
Dairy & Eggs
Eggs
Baked Goods
"She has good days and bad days," the social worker explained. "Some days, she'll know you're not her son. Some days, she'll believe it completely. Just go along with it. Don't correct her. It only causes distress."
I nodded, not understanding what I was agreeing to.
That afternoon, I walked into Room 212. The blinds were half-drawn. A small woman with white hair sat in a wheelchair by the window, staring at a bird outside. She turned when I entered, and her face lit up like a sunrise.
