Your Family Heroes – Do You know Their Stories?

Your Family Heroes – Do You know Their Stories?

By Aileen Brazeau, Co-owner, San Clemente Villas by the Sea

 As our country celebrates its freedom, do you know what your veteran family members have done to keep us all free? It’s sad to think that those acts of service may only be with us while our loved one still lives.

Just talking to your elder can help you preserve their story. It’s hard to forget the experiences they’ve had when you hear how passionate they are and how honored they feel to have served. I’ve been deeply moved by accounts of men and women who left their homes and crossed the seas to unknown dangers.

 One such story came from a sweet lady named Millie. She left her Wisconsin dairy farm just after finishing high school to serve as an Army nurse. She excelled at her duties and was soon sent to Texas to teach the art of giving IV’s. “You have to have a certain touch,” she said. “I ended up teaching corpsmen to give IV’s on the battlefield.” Even after Millie had served her country and raised a family, she continued to serve service men by volunteering at a local Air Force Base hospital. She administered chemo therapy and felt it was an honor to do so.

 Norm was a young law student the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. “The next day I went out and enlisted,” he said. “I wanted to be a pilot, but the Army had other ideas. They insisted my football player sized body was too big to be a pilot.” 

Norm might not have flown planes, but a type of pilot he did become. He ended up navigating the course of a pilot ship responsible for guiding 40 other war vessels to their destinations. His only tools for navigating were a sexton and a pair of binoculars. “Every 10 days we passed through the Panama Canal,” he said. “We always had injured aboard as a part of our mission.”

 So I encourage you to get out the camcorder, the tape recorder, or just a pencil and pad. Get your elder to tell you again their stories of patriotism. It would be a great summer project for your grandchildren. Get some photos of your elder telling them their stories of service. Have them write those stories down the way they’ve heard them. Trust me; those stories will become cherished family heirlooms!

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The Villas is co-owned by Paul and Aileen Brazeau. Paul, a US Navy Veteran, and the former owner of an electrical contracting firm with more than 100 employees, started in the building business many years ago, and has been in senior care projects since 1990. 

Paul found the land, secured financing, drew up the plans and built the Villas building.  He worked closely with the City, building inspectors and sub-contractors.  In his career, he’s built 35 buildings and San Clemente Villas by the Sea, which he calls his “labor of love.” 

San Clemente Villas by the Sea is an Orange County senior living and housing community that delivers care, camaraderie, resort-style amenities, and diverse programming for all stages of retirement. 

The Villas offers independent living, assisted living, as well as memory care services for seniors over the age of 65. An exceptional, highly trained staff, including a medical doctor, and Ph.D. gerontologist fosters an exciting and fun environment with a focus on safe resident care for retirees.

 Located next door to the San Clemente Saddleback Memorial Hospital and across the street from scores of doctors, San Clemente Villas is ideally located for seniors. 

San Clemente Villas by the Sea, 660 Camino De Los Mares, San Clemente, CA. 92672. Phone: (949) 489-3400 | Fax: (949) 234-0081 | For more info e-mail: info@sanclementevillas.com or Aileen Brazeau (949) 289-1534. 

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News Release prepared by Bill Koelzer, Internet Marketing and PR Consultant, www.Koelzer.com.