Anne B.
Mar 2022
My beloved mother Barbara spent the last four years of her life at this beautiful place. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2018 and developed a blood infection later that year, both of which required round-the-clock care that my siblings and I are not qualified to provide. Aegis was by far the best of the options we had, and we are all so grateful that our mother found a place here when she did. As locals know, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States started in residential senior care homes in the Puget Sound area. In the first year of the pandemic, we missed Mom terribly, but we saw what was going on in other care homes and were very afraid for her. However, the staff at Aegis Bellevue did an excellent job of protecting and caring for residents throughout the entire pandemic. Protocols are in place even now - in fact, in the most recent lockdown last December, the manager of the memory-care area (Life's Neighborhood) spent her nights as well as her days there. The staff is that committed to the people they serve. There are far too many wonderful people working here to mention, but particular standouts are Josephine at Reception and Tenaia and Rogers in Life's Neighborhood. Josephine would field weekly calls from my mother's younger sister, and carry her own cellphone to my mother so the two sisters could talk. Josephine also remembered all of my siblings by name after meeting most of us once. There are six of us, and we were all wearing masks, so this was an incredible feat. Among all the caregivers working in Life's Neighborhood, Mom responded to Rogers the most. He is a gentle person with an easy laugh, and my mother just lit up whenever she saw him. I know that his presence reminded her of a happy time in her life, when she and my father were young parents and my older sister and I were babies. Rogers' and Mom's affection for each other was genuine, and so beautiful to see. Tenaia is the manager of Life's Neighborhood, and the wonderful work she does in bringing together staff and residents is beyond description. This is a place where the staff embrace your loved one when they need to move them, where they greet them with real pleasure every day, and where everyone who works with your parents and grandparents treats them with the tenderness and dignity we all deserve. I would not wish Alzheimer's on anyone, but I'm still so glad we had these years with my Mom - and that she spent them at Aegis. Thank you all so much for your loving, respectful care of our mother Barbara. None of the Suttons will ever forget you.
