Kay shares her story

Kay spent all of her working life trying to help people, and these days even though she’s been retired for nearly two decades, she’s still at it.  This 83-year-old social services retiree who lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin says, “You know, if you give something to someone, you get back double, more than double.”

            Until her retirement in 2004 from a Milwaukee County social services office, Kay found plenty of ways to help people cope.  “Let’s see,” she begins, “I was a financial employment planner and supervisor. I was an economic support worker and then supervisor. I was a child welfare supervisor, and I facilitated the annual review board for foster homes cases interviewing the people that were foster parents to our children care in foster care.”

            She pauses before rattling off another list of her responsibilities and says of her work in foster care, “It was the worst job I've ever had, but the best one I ever had. It's just chilling when you hear and know what these children have to go through.”  At the end of her summary of her life in social services, Kay says, “So that's basically what I did my whole life, my work life.”

            But that, as it turns out, isn’t the end of her story, not at all.  After retiring, she felt the need to do something, so she got a job stacking shoe boxes at a giant retail store, and eventually realized there was plenty to keep her busy looking after a couple of children in her life. 

“I spend my days putting on a six-year-old on the bus in the morning and off the bus at night,” Kay reports.  “It's my nephew's oldest daughter so I’m her Great Aunt Kay. During the pandemic, I spent my day at their house making sure they do virtual learning. So basically, I'm on call for the six-year-old and the three-year-old and it's just a joy to my life.”  She has more children in her life, she adds, “I can spend time at a local coffee shop with an 11-year-old plus reading with two three-year-olds and a 13-month-old. Pure joy with the children.”

Kay has a lot more to share about how she’s been spending her time in retirement, including her volunteer work at the local public library running a writers’ group that meets monthly to share manuscripts and story ideas.  Kay has had one story published but has a whole lot of life experience stored in her brain that someday she hopes to find time to put on paper. 

Several years ago, Kay began to feel that her memory was slipping, and after hearing about Prevagen she gave it a try. It worked and she has made Prevagen part of her life.  “Prevagen is a must,” she says.  “I’ve been taking Prevagen all these years.”